


Destiny: Rise of the Warlock

by The_Virtual_Warlock



Series: Destiny Alternate Universe [2]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:59:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 43,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24321676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Virtual_Warlock/pseuds/The_Virtual_Warlock
Summary: Hope is a fragile thing, especially when humanity faces extinction for a second time.The Traveler, humanity's last hope, has been dormant for 16 centuries. The servants of the Darkness continue to grow in numbers. The Guardians, the protectors of the Last Safe City on Earth, are fighting losing wars against the Fallen, Hive, Vex, and Cabal. Even they are in need of a miracle.When a recently resurrected Warlock joins the Guardians in battle, many are skeptical at first. But what they don't realize is that this Warlock is their only hope remaining to fight the Darkness.His name is Max Prodigy, and this is his story.
Series: Destiny Alternate Universe [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1685533
Kudos: 4





	1. Prelude

One Astronaut, one Cosmonaut, and one Taikonaut disembarked from their spacecraft, the Ares 30, onto the surface of Mars. The year is 2867, nearly eight whole centuries after World War 3, better known to humanity as "The Great Collapse". No one is sure why or how it started; all they know is how it ended: Earth was a nuclear wasteland, and humanity faced the one thing they feared above all else, extinction. What was left of humanity was inside nuclear bunkers, their children, spouses, pets, history, and hobbies. The bunkers became their home, until some brave few ventured outside. To some people's surprise, the sun beat down on them harder than their ancestors described. But to others, the night sky never looked more beautiful. It was these people who founded 3 new space programs, one for Terran rediscoveries, one for satellites to photograph the beauty of space, and one for expanding humanity beyond Earth, and hopefully, beyond their sun. Ares 30 was the fruit of all three programs, a satellite to photograph a full view of Mars and a few close-ups as well, and a spacecraft to take 3 nauts to the red planet and back.

The day they landed on the surface, was the same day they found it.

They hiked across the landscape in their spacesuits, taking note of the mountains and valleys that they pass. As they were hiking along a mountain ridge, they saw something different, something absolutely stunning. A gigantic white orb, floating about 10 kilometers from the ground.

"What is it?" asked the Cosmonaut.

"I have no clue," answered the Astronaut.

Then, in an instant, clouds began to form around the orb, growing by the minute, raining down pure water onto the once barren planet.

The Taikonaut took off her helmet, but she didn't suffocate. Instead, she said, "It's a miracle!"

The Astronaut and the Cosmonaut followed suit and breathed in fresh oxygen. The American bowed in reverence, "We have much to thank you, oh mighty orb."

Years later, that orb became known as The Traveler, and it single-handedly saved humanity.

Mars became home to a city called Freehold, the economic capital of the Sol system. Earth was reformed as the political and astronomical capital of humanity. Venus hosted the Ishtar Collective, the biggest university, and center of knowledge, science, engineering, and innovation any man has ever known. Mercury was transformed into a garden world, the agriculture of Sol. The Gas Giants and their moons had various uses, mining and archiving were chief among them. Humans tripled their lifespan and their population, and their Golden Age was glorious. They walked in the light of other stars, with the light of the Traveler guiding them. Humanity's Golden Age spanned for 8 centuries, then, just like that it was snuffed out.

No one knows where they came from, no one knows who they are, but humanity got a glimpse of their purpose: to destroy everything the Traveler touched. Humanity described them with one word: Darkness. It cloaked these beings, and yet it was their very souls, their very beings as well.

They murdered and chased humanity back to Earth, where the Traveler made one last stand. It charged into the heart of the Darkness, and with a great blast of Light, it banished the Darkness, never to be seen again.

However, every victory comes with a price. For the Traveler, the cost put it into a deep sleep, hovering above the Earth by just a few miles, never to wake again.


	2. Resurrection

"Guardian?" said a soft mechanical voice. "Guardian?" The voice grew louder and more defined, "Eyes up, Guardian."

_What? Where am I?_

"It worked! You're alive!"

_Huh? Alive?_

"You don't know how long I've been looking for you!"

"Wait," stood the new man, "Who are you?" He pointed to the white orb with 8 triangular pyramids orbiting it. Strangely enough, the orb had an eye in the shape of a diamond.

The orb spoke, "I'm a Ghost. Well, I'm your Ghost now."

"Oh, cool. So who am I?"

The Ghost looked down, "I don't know who you are, or how long you've been dead, but I do this: You are a Guardian."

"And what is a Guardian?"

Then they heard a screech, a high-pitched screech that sounded like a mixture between a wolf's howl and a Xenomorph's scream. "The Fallen are coming!" It whispered. "I need to get you to the City." Then it disappeared. "I'm still with you, but we need to move quickly."

"Ok, ok." They ran along a path towards a giant wall that the Guardian had never seen before; rusted, like the cars. The Ghost said, "This was the Divide. It kept Old Russian secrets in, and it used to keep the Fallen out."

He lingered on the word _kept,_ but couldn't help noticing the masses of old cars. "How many people were left to die?" 

"About 7 to 8 billion in the year 3654. That's when It came."

I climbed a flight of stairs. "It?"

Another Fallen scream sent shivers down the new Guardian's spine. The Ghost said, "I'll explain later."

"And I'm a Guardian now, which is?"

Garbled voices flooded the room above them, no doubt the Fallen. "You'll find out soon enough," it said.

He climbed another flight of stairs into a pitch-black room. The Ghost lit itself up and said, "We need more light if we want to get past the Fallen. I'll see what I can do," and floated away to the apparent opposite corner of the room.

Then, the lights flickered, and lit up the whole length of the room. From the far end of the wall, hundreds of thousands of Fallen were crawling on the walls, the bridges, the floor, and the ceiling. "Okay. We need to move!" shouted the Ghost. The Guardian began looking around for a weapon, any weapon. Then he found an old Russian assault rifle, labeled the Khovstov. "You know how to use that thing?" asked Ghost.

"No clue." Just then, two Fallen jumped out of nowhere, and the Guardian shot both without hesitation. _I just killed a life, let alone two._ _Who am I?_ They moved down the hallway, and another Fallen dropped from ceiling, landing in front of the Guardian's face. Upon instinct, I thrust my palm into the Vandal's head, snapping it back, and crashing the body into the ground. "You're a warlock," The Ghost remarked.

"Yes?" 

"Perhaps the Warlock from the prophecy?"

"Prophecy?" asked the Warlock, "What prophecy?"

The Ghost shook its head, "We'll talk about this when we get back to City." As he said his last word, three more Fallen dropped from the ceiling, all of them were decapitated from the Khovstov's bullets. Nearby stood a loot cache, later to be opened by the Warlock. He found a shotgun and sniper rifle inside, took both and some shiny blue cubes called Glimmer, and proceeded to the next room.

Four Vandals dropped, four Dregs burst through the floor, and four Shanks crawled out of the walls. He sniped the Vandals before they could charge, then whipped out the Khovstov to kill the remaining Fallen. "So those insectoid creatures were the Fallen? How did they get here?"

The Ghost paused, "No one knows. They appeared one day out of space, and just like that, they began tearing apart the ruins of humanity for their own gain."

After a long corridor, they finally reached the other side of the wall and breathed fresh air again. As they walked into the field, the Warlock asked, "What was this place?"

"An old Cosmodrome, fitted to send humans beyond Earth, and its Sun, using rockets, colony ships, and jumpships," said the Ghost.

A lot of the Cosmodrome looked very similar to Old Russia at night: snow on the ground, dark skies, and a lot of buildings that look like OKB-1 architecture: rectangular, lots of space between buildings, some higher or bigger than others. There was some grass, but only in small patches that poked through the snow. For most of the landscape, the ground was dry and cracked, though the cracks were barely visible.

After the new Warlock admired the scenery, he asked the Ghost, "Ok, so what's a Jumpship?"

Just then, a flare lit up the sky, which turned into a warp point for a giant ship and 13 other smaller ships. The Ghost was shocked, "Fallen Skiffs? This close to the surface!?"

"I know, MOVE!" But it was too late; a skiff dropped its Fallen passengers and left. The Guardian stood in awe of the massive ship, the Ketch. _No time for sightseeing, you just got shot!_ He turned, aimed the rifle at the encroaching Fallen, and pulled the trigger.The Dregs hissed, Vandals' ether leaking, and Shanks whizzing. He swapped to the shotgun, blew the Shanks away, shot half of the Fallen, then switched to the auto rifle to kill the remaining Dregs. Two snipers remained, guarding the entrance to a large building dubbed Dock 13. They sniped at the Warlock, only to miss, and spot him charging at them. He opened fire, and advanced into the dock, leaving two dead bodies in his wake.

Upon leaving The Divide, the Warlock looked down at his clothes, noticing that they were torn and battered from the fight. _When I get to this 'City,' they better have some durable threads._ He noticed something else, something glistening against his skin; a small metal chain wrapped around his neck and holding a small metal slate close to his chest. "Hey, Ghost? What's this around my neck?"

The Ghost turned around and looked at it, "I don't know. Previous identification, perhaps?"

The Warlock looked at the slate which read:

Max Prodigy  
Born: 6/18/1996  
ID: 000001

He wondered, _Am I Max? But what did he stand for? What do I stand for?_ They wandered through Dock 13, and after a winding hallway, came across a pack of Fallen, one of which looked like it had 4 horns on his mask.

"Tres, a mus kii," said one, presumably their Captain. The Dregs began tearing into the ship for any kinds of parts they can scavenge.

Suddenly, a Vandal shouted, "Ba ma kre la!" The pack began encroaching near the far doorway, where Max and his Ghost were hiding.

Max could feel himself shake, _Have they found me?_ He jumped around the giant room with the Jumpship, then without blinking, he shot down 4 Vandals, threw a Vortex grenade at their Captain. The Captain dodged it, but 3 Dregs weren't so lucky. He shot 3 bullets into the chest, pulverizing the chestplate, then delivered 4 more to its mask, sending the Captain into the ground.

"Rahn akri no frili!" it said.

"If that means you can't die, then I've already busted that claim."

"Is there Darkness?" it asked with its dying breath.

"Only in you," said the Ghost.

The Captain laughed, "Skolas right, Skolas knew you're evil, just like Hive!"

Max shot the Captain dead. The Ghost floated over to the ship, hanging by some cables, and looming over the Captain's dead body. "It's old, possibly ancient. And almost torn apart. We'll be lucky if I can fly this thing."

"Or get to the City in one piece," remarked his Guardian.

"Right." Then the ghost disappeared, and the ship was activated. At that moment, 13 more Fallen began to crawl out of a hole in the wall behind them. One was carrying a weird-looking, 4 barreled shotgun. "RRAAAAAAA!" it shouted.

He raised the Khovstov, but his Ghost said, "No, you're not ready," and he was teleported inside the jumpship. "I need to bring you to the City, remember? But we'll come back for them."

"No! I can take them out now!" But the ship was in the air, and pointed west.

"No, you can't. We'll get you some new armor, and weapons. Then, we'll decide if you can go back."

"Oh alright, fine." As they departed, Max stared out one of the windows and found a robotic humanoid standing on the roof from where the ship emerged.

* * *

The figure stared at the ship. She thought to herself, _Is this Ghoul the Warlock from the Prophecy? Will he save the universe from the coming Darkness?_ Then she vanished, into thin air.


	3. The Last City

On the Moon, there exists the Hellmouth, a pit and fortress for the Hive and one of their princes, Crota. Crota is the Son of Oryx, one of the three Hive Gods at the very top of their caste system. As part of Oryx's plan to reap the Earth of all life, Crota swiftly established the Earth's only moon as his Spawn's base of operations, and the gateway between the Main Dimension and his own Ascendant Realm. It was in this Realm where an attempt on his life was made, by 6 Guardians, no less. The assassination went poorly, and out of the 6 Guardians, only one literally crawled out with her life. Everything that belonged to her was lost: her weapons, her knife, her armor, her Ghost, her Light, even her Awoken eyes. All that remained were herself, a shard from a Hive cleaver, and 3 glowing green eyes arranged in a triangle above her nose, protected by a brown bandana. _I must get out of here! I, Eris Morn, need to warn the City!_

* * *

"Watch it!" shouted the Ghost, "You almost got us killed from that thunderstorm!"

Max was at the helm, struggling with the controls, "I've just been resurrected and you expect me to be an expert in flying a Jumpship!?" The ship began to dive straight into a mountain.

The Ghost 'rolled its eye' and said, "Then let me drive if you're just going to complain about it!" He took over and raised the ship just in time to avoid the mountain and take to the skies once more, navigating past a few more mountains and ranges, before finally arriving at The City. "Ah," he said at last, "our home."

The Last Safe City on Earth was beautiful, even if humanity was slowly declining inside. Most of the City didn't have slums, and even with the 'poorer' areas of the city, the denizens of these areas weren't entirely suffering from poverty. The architecture was so advanced and futuristic, yet it had an ancient feel to it, as if it were a part of a society millennia before the City. Above it all floated a dormant Traveler, protecting the City from the outside world, aside from the city walls, and the Tower.

As a rule, the City's Tower was the headquarters of its Guardians, the protectors of humanity, and the divine soldiers of The Traveler. The Tower was the most renovated structure out of the entire City, thanks to Speaker Hedge's propositions. However, Hedge was replaced at the end of his second term by Speaker Alamo, the first Awoken Speaker in the history of the City. As part of his new policies, Alamo slowly shifted the center of economics away from the rich and into the middle class, by taxing the billionaires more heavily than the workers, then raising the minimum wage. The theory was that the working class would spend more cash than the rich simply because they are the ones in need of food and other goods. This worked 30 years before, and would've worked today had it not been for a Consensus dominated by New Monarchy. As such, Speaker Alamo barely got his policies off the ground, and the City didn't change much across his 4 years in office.

When Max touched down in the Tower Plaza, he looked around and admired the view. His Ghost said, "Welcome to The Last Safe City on Earth, our home and Humanity's only asylum away from the Darkness. And this is the Tower, the home and headquarters of the Guardians." Max was still admiring the scenery when his Ghost said, "AHEM! Don't you need new robes?"

"Ok ok! I'm moving!" They walked through the center of the Plaza, past the Vaults that looked like triangular pillars on his right, past the triangular post office on his left, descended down a staircase in the center of another staircase rising to another part of the Plaza, the gunsmith's shop on the right and a garden with a futuristic fountain in its center straight ahead. However, it was the rooms below that mattered most to the Guardians, for just the small descending staircase was attached to a lit tunnel, the first part was dedicated to the Crucible and its handler, Lord Shaxx, while the end resulted in another room, but with an overlooking window into the mountains surrounding the City. This room was dedicated to the Vanguard, decorated with battle trophies, war medals, and symbolic banners, and in the center was a long table, and floor was designed so that this table sank into the ground like a star distorting a solar system's plane, causing everything to revolve around its gravity. As such, this table appeared to hold more weight than anything else in the room, and thus the trophies, medals, and banners revolved around its gravity. Surrounding the table were three figures: one was a scholarly female Warlock, robed in purple as a symbol of her connection to the Void; another was a hooded robotic humanoid figure, with light armor and all the details any man would ask for, muscular abs, chiseled face, and a handsome voice that most people envy; and at the far end of the table stood a bald blue-skinned soldier, as strong and thick-headed as most Titans can be.

Max walked up to the table slowly, but as he did, he felt something in his bones that he never felt before. _What is this feeling?_ He shook it off and walked to the table and said, "Um, hi. I'm looking for Ikora Rey."

The female Warlock raised her hand, "Right here. What do you need?"

Max paused, "um...well..." then he looked at himself, tattered clothes and all, and asked her, "How did you get robes like that!?"

Ikora chuckled, "I used to be just like you, and then someone took me in and taught me all there was to being a Warlock. Experience got me here, and it will carry you along a similar path. But for now, take these robes," and she handed him a pair of pants, combat boots, gauntlets, robes, and a helmet, all basic white. "One more thing," she said, "Since your rifle is in such bad shape, I'd recommend going to the gunsmith, just outside and take a sharp left."

Max smiled, "Thanks, Ikora." As he walked away, he could hear the soldier being addressed as 'Commander Zavala', and the robot Hunter as 'Cayde-6'.

Just as he exited the tunnel, an Exo Titan and an Awoken Hunter bumped into him from either side. "WATCH IT!" they shouted.

"Sorry, new here." Max dashed quickly to the Exo Gunsmith, who was similar to Cayde and the Titan, except that the gunsmith had a scratchy 'southern american' accent. "So, you're the gunsmith?" asked the Warlock.

The Exo known as Banshee growled, "Ya think these guns on the wall say otherwise?"

Max stumbled back, "n-n-no, s-s-sir."

"Hmph. Let's take a look at that gun." As Max gave the rifle to Banshee, the gunsmith remarked, "I 'aven't seen this gun since... since..." The gunsmith paused, then shook his head, "Nah, thought I recognized it."

Max tried to speak, "S-so, c-can you-"

Before the Warlock could finish, Banshee-44 calmly barked, "No!"

"How come?"

Banshee held up the Khvostov, "This gun has seen better days. The scope's cracked, magazine battered, and the recoil," he fired a few bullets into the wall, "Too unstable. It's a miracle that this thing still works, let alone helped a new ghoul get to the City!"

Max felt offended, "What did you just call me?"

"Ghoul. That's the technical term for Guardians like you. Now, if you were to give this to me, I might give you a good gun to play with."

Max was a little uneasy at that aspect, "Play with!?"

Banshee laughed, "I'm teasing ya, kid! Don't ever play with guns, but you will need one for the outside world. Now, what do you want?"

Max asked for a precision rifle, so Banshee supplied him with a Scout Rifle; semiautomatic and made for longer distance assassinations. "Thanks, sir."

"Name's Banshee, by the way, so stop calling me sir."

Max nodded, "Of course, sir," and he ran off again, this time stumbling into the same Titan and Hunter as before knocking them down to the ground. "So sorry!" he said again, "I'm so so sorry!"

The Titan tossed him aside, "GET OFF OF ME, NEWBIE!"

The Hunter shouted at her partner, "Leviathan! Stop being so rude!" She offered a hand to Max and lifted him up, "Apologies for my friend, he can be...problematic."

Leviathan scoffed, "Says the Hunter who refused to assassinate a Fallen target!"

"HEY!" she shouted, "Sepiks Prime was just providing Ether to his people!"

"'Its MONSTERS,' Lilli!" barked the Titan, "Or do you forget that it was the Fallen who attacked our City and nearly destroyed Twilight Gap!?"

Lilli sighed, "Leviathan, I told you before that was Skolas who ordered the attack, not Sepiks or the Devils."

"Yeah, but if given the chance, Sepiks Prime would lead the Fallen to our destruction! We must remain strong and fight off the Fallen, drive them back into their holes like the rats they are!"

"Guys!" Max shouted, "What's going on? What happened to this city, who's Sepiks, and why are we fighting?"

Lilli pulled Max aside, "This doesn't concern you, all you need to know is that we're falling on hard times as a city, and guys like Leviathan are arguing about a stronger military."

Max's eyes bulged, "Yeah, that would definitely be a problem."

Leviathan butted in, "WHAT DID YOU SAY!?"

"N-n-nothing," stuttered the new Warlock, "My ship is in rough shape, and I need it fixed! That's the problem!"

Leviathan glared at Max and Lilli for a second, then sighed, "Oh, alright..." He led them to the Tower hanger, the shelter for all of Guardians' ships, and introduced them to the shipwright. "Warlock, this is Amanda Holliday, she can assist you with your ships and sparrows."

"Howdy, Warlock!" she said, "Heard you need a ship."

"Actually," the Warlock nervously said, "I have one already, but it needs repairing...so yeah."

Amanda nodded, "Not a problem. Come down here with me, and I'll show you what we're missing." She led the three guardians to an adjacent elevator, which descended down to the jumpship parking garage and repair zones. The Garage itself is below the floor, and ships can be stored into or taken out of the Garage at any time. The repair zone is not only a place where ships can be repaired and modified, it also doubles as a launch pad, sending ships carrying Guardians out into the Solar system to fight back the Darkness. Max followed Amanda to his ship, an ancient Arcadia-class Jumpship that neither the Fallen nor time were kind to. "That's one helluva ship, Guardian. How'd you get it to work?"

Max was speechless, "I-I-I... I don't know. It just did."

Amanda looked behind her back at the ship, "Yeah well, now it's inert." Her heart sank as she said it.

Max was shocked, "Inert!? It's not working anymore!? Why!?"

"One of the engines was running on fumes when you landed, the other fell off the ship when we opened 'er up, and NLS warp drive was scrapped."

"Um, what?"

Leviathan spoke up, "It means your ship is falling apart and beyond repair, idiot." He turned to Lilli and said, "I thought Warlocks were supposed to be smart and nerdy."

Max gritted his teeth. Lilli slapped the Titan across the face, "He just got resurrected! Give him some slack!"

Max sighed and asked Amanda, "So, what kind of parts am I looking for?"

The shipwright took one good look at the house of cards that was a ship and said, "Parts? Parts!? You need more than a few parts if you want to fix this scrap pile! And you'll need a ton of Glimmer!"

The Warlock looked at Amanda, then at Lilli and Leviathan and asked, "What's Glimmer?"

"It's the currency that we use," answered the Hunter, "and it's very useful for binding broken parts together."

"Yeah, but not as effective as getting a new ship," finished Holliday.

"And how much does that cost?" asked Max.

"Oh, about...5000 to 10000 Glimmer."

Max's eyes bulged, "WHAT!?"

"Hey, I spend most of my time working here, building ships and sparrows that newbies can drive. But the Traveler hasn't been giving us too many Guardians as of late, the Darkness is growing stronger every day, and the politicians aren't making our mortal lives any easier! I had to sell my home to keep my business going! Besides, repairing this ship isn't going to be easy or cheap either. You're just better off buying another ship."

Max placed his hands in his pockets, looking for any glimmer. "Ummm, I don't have any Glimmer..."

Amanda shook her head, "Then I can't do anything for ya, Guardian. Unless you wanna let me take this Arcadia off your hands."

Max sighed, "I still don't have-"

Amanda laughed, "You won't owe me a thing! Instead, you'd be getting 200 Glimmer for this deal."

Max's eyes lit up, "Oh! That's different!" Amanda handed him the 200 Glimmer, then told the robotic Frames to take the Arcadia away for salvage, scrap, and smelting.

As the three Guardians took the elevator back up to the main floor, Leviathan grabbed Max by the shoulder firmly, "What do you think you're doing!? Huh!?"

Max felt nervousness creeping down his spine, "I-I-I don't know!"

"Of course you don't, newbie! You just sold your only ship!"

"She said it was falling apart!" Max yelled back, "And in case you haven't noticed, I'm a little short on Glimmer!"

"Any ship or gun is worth more than 200 Glimmer! Even one that was in parts!"

"Oh, really?" The Hunter scoffed, "Then how much was that Arcadia worth?"

Leviathan paused, if he could sweat, he would do so in bullets. "Well... 400, maybe 500 Glimmer" then he raised his voice a little, "But it doesn't matter! He's lost his ship now, so he can't go on missions!"

"Who says he can't?"

"I do! We already have a Warlock, and she-"

"-is taking a break from our missions and is spending time with her new girlfriend," Lilli finished, "Besides, this guy needs our help."

Leviathan sighed, "fine...fine...we'll help him, but just this once. Then he's on his own."

* * *

_25 years ago..._

Inside the Hellmouth's dark fortress was a Hunter, laying on a Hive ritual table, his cloak in tatters and his armor shattered and removed. When he woke up, he realized that he was chained to the green crystalline table by the hands and feet. _Where am I!? What's going on!?_

Three Hive wizards floated up to the table, approaching the Hunter's head, their bone dry hands touched themselves at the fingers, almost like a prayer. One wizard was plainly decorated, except for a small satchel on her side, filled with devious runes and objects worthy of a ritual; her name was Xyor the Unwed. Another wizard was a little more decorative, but with the bones of her enemies strung in necklaces and bracelets, some were even sewn into her clothing; this wizard was Omnigul, Crota's wife and Will, and the chief general of his Spawn. The third wizard, Ir Yut, was a Deathsinger, and as such, she could harness the powers of Death and send them reeling at even the most deadly of foes. She wore a cloak similar to Omnigul's, except they were studded with soul crystals instead of bones, amplifying her connection to her brother, Crota.

The wizards' hands parted as they were inches away from the Hunter. "Here is a worthy specimen," Ir Yut cackled in the language of the Hive, "This little one shall serve as his Vessel!"

The Hunter violently squirmed, "LET ME OUT OF HERE, YOU SADISTIC CREATURES!"

"Aww, look at him," squealed Xyor, "He's just BEGGING to be possessed!"

"Then do it already!" Omnigul growled, "Our master won't be happy if we stall!"

Xyor did as she was told and pulled a few runes out of her satchel. She floated closer to his head and waved her right hand over his face, "Urzgol. [Sleep.]" The Hunter did as she commanded and his body went limp. Xyor then placed a small rune on his face, 2 for his arms, 2 for his legs, and 4 runes running down his chest. The three wizards formed a triangle around the Hunter, put their hands together, joining at the fingertips and nowhere else, one more time. Then they chanted with scratchy sing-song voices, and as they did so, the runes lit up with an ominous shade of green.

The rocky plates that carried the runes began to crack, causing the runes to sink into the Hunter. He immediately convulsed and screamed with pain, the Wizards chanted louder and louder, his body was branded and burned by the runes, the chanting flooding his ears, tearing out his eyes, and dissecting his brain, his once Light-filled brain. His head emitted a poisonous green and the Hunter screamed his last.

The chanting stopped. Omnigul commanded, "Rise, Dredgen Yor, Vessel of Crota!"


	4. The First Tests

Max, Lilli, and Leviathan landed in the Cosmodrome Mothyards, primary weapons locked and loaded, and ready to clean out the Fallen and what other threats may linger. Leviathan said, "Alright newbie, show me what you've got."

Max shrugged, "Um, how?"

Leviathan laughed, "You're resurrected as a Warlock! You should know how!"

Lilli nudged the Titan, "Don't be too hard on him!" Then she said, "Warlock, try throwing a Grenade." Max took a few steps forward, sighted a Vandal not too far from his position, then summoned a small void ball and tossed it at the creature, killing it. The sound of the Vandal dying attracted a small robot hovering above the ground. The void ball expanded on impact, sucking the body, the robot, and a few pebbles into the center, then it disappeared. During that time, the three Guardians felt the ground shake under their feet, but not so much as to topple them. The Warlock, however, felt these tremors more than the other two; his void energy began to drain itself into the Vortex, keeping it open. The Hunter noticed this and shouted, "CLOSE THE VORTEX!"

Max shouted back, "HOW!?"

"YOUR FIST! CLOSE YOUR FIST!"

He tried his right hand, his dominant hand, but nothing happened. Then he tried his left hand, and the Vortex Grenade collapsed. He felt the void energy that was drained out of him in return.

"Better?" she asked.

Max nodded, "Yeah."

"Alright, alright," nagged the Titan, "Let's get a move on! We have some Fallen to hunt and kill!" They ran to a far corner of the terrain, in the same area as they spawned, and went through a building that led to Dock 13. This entrance into the Dock was opposite to the entrance from the Divide. Their target was a Fallen Archon, the one that led 12 Dregs out of the hole to avenge their comrades.

Archons are high-ranking Fallen that usually act as a go-between the political power-hungry Kells and the mechanical god-like Servitors. Archons are very religious to their Servitors, especially their Prime Servitor. But ironically, it is not the Archons that lead Fallen into battle, it's the Servitors. It would be wrong to assume that the Servitors do this out of kindness, whereas the real reason lies in the important rituals that the Archons perform on Dregs, Vandals, and Captains.

If a Vandal disgraced the house in any way, it is the Archon's duty to dock the Vandal's lower 2 arms in front of the whole house. However, there are rituals based on success too, such as the promotion from Dreg to Vandal, Vandal to Captain, and then Captain to Archon, the latter of which is mediated by the Archon Priest with the Kell as a witness. The only time where an Archon can ascend to Priesthood is when the current Archon Priest dies. This ritual is regulated by the Prime Servitor itself, all of the Archons in a Fallen House are lined up in front for everyone to see. At the climax of the ceremony, the Prime Servitor selects an Archon to be their next Priest, and everyone celebrates this with more ether in their lungs and bellies full of meat.

The three Guardians entered Dock 13 and began shooting up the Dregs on the ground. The Archon reeled from his position at the far entrance and growled at the Guardians. It fired 4 blasts from its shrapnel launcher, a large weapon capable of firing molten bolts of scrap at anything that crosses its path. Max tried to dodge out of the way, but a molten bolt ripped through his left arm, leaving a huge gash near his shoulder. He screamed in agony, unable to move his arm at all. The Hunter aimed her hand cannon at the Archon and fired 6 shots into its head. The Archon whirled around to face Lilli, but was stopped when Leviathan punctured the Archon in the leg with a shotgun shell. The Archon howled and smacked Leviathan away and into a wall, damaging his armor. Max, still in pain from the gash in his arm, clenched his fist, stood up and faced the Archon with all the strength he could muster. He generated a Vortex Grenade in his right hand, but he didn't release it. Instead, he shoved it into his other hand, trying to expand the Vortex to astronomical proportions with both hands. His major challenge was overcoming the pain from the gash, but when he was done, Max shouted, "HEY UGLY!"

The Archon turned and snarled at the Warlock.

The Hunter and Titan stared at Max, "Oh! My! Traveler!" And ducked for cover.

The Archon charged at Max, but it was too late; the Vortex Grenade had grown into a Nova Bomb, and Max launched it straight at the Archon. The massive Void explosion knocked Max back into a wall, cracking his skull. The Archon was also thrown back, but into the opposite wall, its armor shattered and the horned mask fractured, mysterious gas hissing out through the cracks in the armor. The Archon coughed and wheezed, scurrying back into the hole it slunk out of.

Max's Ghost rezzed Max, and the Warlock sprang back into action. "We need to pursue!"

"No!" cried Lilli, "We can't fit in there!"

Leviathan snapped, "So you're just going to let it get away!? Let that thing get strong enough to ravage the Cosmodrome and our City!?"

"No! That thing has gone back to its nesting ground, where we won't be able to survive!"

"Why, Lilli!? Why should we listen to you!?"

Max answered with, "Because that gas, or whatever that was inside its armor, is most likely poisonous."

Leviathan scoffed, "To you, maybe, but I-"

"Say it, Leviathan! You're a robot! You don't need air! Go squeeze yourself down that hole and to us that you can do it!"

Leviathan clenched his fists firmly, then tried launching himself down the Archon's hole, but failed past his waist. "Oof! Um, a little help?" his voice faintly echoed.

Lilli tugged on Leviathan's legs sticking out of the hole, and tried to pull him out. "Umph! You really are stuck!"

"No! Push me down!"

Max filled his hands with the Void, and pushed on Leviathan's feet. The Void exploded, propelling the Titan down the tubes for a long time.

"WAAAAAAAUUUUUGH! TOO FAST! TOO FAST! TOO FAAAAAAST!!" Then there was a loud 'CLUNK!' followed by Leviathan echoing, "I'm alright! I'll be fine down here!"

"Then what will we do?" asked the Warlock.

"Go back! Go to the other side of the Cosmodrome, to the Skywatch! Kill the all of the Fallen there!"

"Will do." Max drew his scout rifle and rushed back to the Mothyards, the Hunter out in front of him. As soon as they reached a part of the Mothyards that was littered with rusted airplanes, Lilli and Max noticed that the Fallen Vandals were running toward the large building in the distance known as the Lunar Complex, dragging the scaredy-cat Dregs by the collars, while the Captains were busily running away. "What's got the Fallen in such a frenzy?"

Lilli shrugged, "No clue, but we have to check it out."

On their way, no Fallen tried to stop and kill them, not even to fire a single shot. One of the Captains screamed something incomprehensible at the Guardians, then just kept running away, unarmed. As soon as Max and Lilli entered the building, they slowed down, 10 Vandals stood in front of them, still as statues in fear of the Complex's doorway in front of them, the Dreg collars remained snug in their grasp. Silence flooded the air. "What now?" Max whispered.

Then a Vandal stepped forward and threw its Dreg through the door. The Dreg got scared and tried backing out, but the Vandals quickly drew arms, their message was clear: Die inside or die a coward. The Dreg growled, then walked inside, armed with nothing but a shock pistol and dagger. The other 9 Dregs were tossed one by one in a similar manner, and one by one, they walked. Silence followed afterward. Then the Dregs screamed, only 3 ran out and were shot down by the Vandals. They too walked inside, until only the Guardians remained. Max and Lilli slowly walked into the Complex, primary weapons at the ready.

A slightly dying Dreg grabbed Max by the ankle. He screamed so loud it could be heard for miles. The bloodied Dreg on the ground weakly said, "beware... beware......."

"Beware?" The Hunter asked, "Beware of what?"

The Dreg died shortly after, its hand loosened up on Max, and the Warlock pulled his leg back to his side. "I don't like this," he said, "Shouldn't we be scared too?"

The Hunter scoffed, "No, we're Guardians. We're going in."

"But the Fallen-"

"The Fallen are scared of everything! That's why they're so violent!" Together, they walked inside, walked down a hallway, and into a darkened room filled with dead Vandals.

Max pulled out his Ghost, "Can you scan this room?"

"We don't need to," he said, "look at the doors."

Max examined the metal sheet door in the far corner, "Sliced and torn apart, by a sword?" He ran his fingers across the rough edges, almost slicing his fingers, "No, by claws, long and sharp."

"Long and sharp claws?" the Ghost cried, "I hope that doesn't mean-"

Max looked at him carefully, "Doesn't mean what?"

Lilli finished picking the bodies and stepped over the sheet door. "Ugh! It's musky in here, and there's bone dust and marrow corroding the metal, too!"

The Ghost shivered in fear, "I've got a bad feeling about this." Halfway up a flight of stairs, it went from little lighting to pitch black. Ghost turned on his flashlight, and they could see black mist rising from some marrow fungi.

A small shrill emanated from the far corner of the next pitch-black room, then it grew louder. It sounded like a million terrifying, freezing, heart-palpitating, high-pitched screams. "No, It can't be!" shouted Lilli.

Ghost said, "Yep."

Max readied his scout rifle. "What is it?"

"But it can't-" 5 skeletal zombies jumped off a platform at the far-end of the room, and ran towards the Guardians like they were on a track team. "It IS," realized the Ghost, pure horror in his tone. The skeletal zombies just doubled their ranks. "IT'S THE HIVE!"

The Guardians were brought down quickly. Max felt forty claws tearing into his very flesh. He threw a vortex grenade into the ground, grabbing onto a loose sheet of metal for support, then closed his fist. The skeletons died quickly, but more of them quickly flooded the room. Lilli shouted, "Leave the Thrall!" and threw her incendiary grenade at their feet, leaving them to decay. She and Max jumped to the furthest clean platform, avoiding the fire, void, and the Thrall horde. "If there are Hive here, then there must be a lieutenant controlling this swarm, A Wizard or a Knight."

Max followed the Hunter, climbing a flight of stairs. They heard another shrill at the top, different from the fifteen screaming Thralls that rushed towards them. "The Wizard," shouted Lilianna, "Kill it!" Then she heard a low, guttural, earth-shaking growl. Alarmed, she exclaimed "A Knight!?"

Max's Ghost tried to analyze the situation, "But that's impossible! Unless-"

"We're losing time," The Warlock shouted, "Let's take them both!" The Awoken Hunter began to snipe the Wizard, and managed to critically wound it, before she was chased by the Thralls. She tossed another grenade at the pursuers, and blew them all up. Max was busy trying to avoid the Knight's sword, while landing a few blows from his melees. The Knight swung its sword, almost mangling Max. Lilli tried to fire at the Wizard's head, but missed, and had to deal with the incoming Thrall, with the light-armored Acolytes close behind. She drew her hand cannon, fired bullets into the horde, but the Thrall were too fast. She threw another grenade, this time burning the Thrall and the Acolytes. She landed on her two feet, charged toward the Wizard, and sliced its throat with her knife. Max, meanwhile, had snatched the Knight's sword and crushed it with the powers of the Void. The Knight now looked scared, and tried to run away, but was caught by a Nova Bomb, dissolving the rotted flesh and launching armor pieces like shrapnel.

Lilli pressed a button on her helmet, activating her comms, "Dragon leader, this is Dragon 2 reporting from the Skywatch. Come in, Dragon Leader." Silence. "Leviathan, are you there?"

Max examined the scene, taking a piece of armor from both dead lieutenants, both of which sported a strange symbol. "Ghost," he asked, "What does this symbol mean?"

The Ghost looked shocked. "That's the symbol of Spawn of Crota. That Knight and Wizard came from the Moon!"

"Spawn of Crota?" the Warlock shook it off and asked, "and these symbols?" he pointed to the symbols on the left side of the backs of the helms.

The Ghost took a good look at it. "I don't know. But maybe the Speaker can."

The Hunter finished her call, "Max?"

"Yes?"

"We have a problem..."

Max raised an eyebrow, "What is it?"

"That hole that we sent Leviathan down? It didn't lead to the Fallen..."

* * *

Dredgen Yor waited in the battleground of the Skywatch, waiting for Omnigul. He looked at his Thorn, one more time, and noticed that it still held 9 bullets left in the chamber, and that he didn't carry any extra rounds. _Damn. I'll need more bullets if my master demands more sacrifices._ Dredgen felt a chill in the air and grinned, "And here I was wondering if you were going to make it." He turned around and bowed before Omnigul, "I have the souls that He requires."

Omnigul grinned, "Then let's see them."

Yor removed a pouch from his satchel. Inside the pouch was a bunch of tiny soul crystals, glowing green with the souls of anyone unlucky enough to cross his path. Souls of not just people, but of Guardians and Ghosts as well. "This will suffice."

Omnigul felt the tortured souls as she levitated the crystals out of the pouch. "Yes, yes, you have done well, Dredgen. But this is not enough."

Dredgen stood in alarm, "What?"

"We need more souls, whatever we can get our hands on."

"And you will have them by the end of the week."

"NO!" Omnigul shouted, "He needs them tonight!"

Yor got aggravated, "Why tonight!? Why is he accelerating his resurrection!? What hasn't he told me!?"

"Crota has lost 2 of his high priests to a pair of Guardians!"

Yor gritted his teeth, "Impossible! No Guardian has ever killed one of Crota's lieutenants!"

Omnigul slapped Dredgen across the face, "The past no longer matters when there's an anomaly in the present! Crota has moved up the schedule! It happens now or never! Kill these Guardians and raise His soul!"


	5. Tunnels of Terror

Crota stood in his Throneworld, waiting for his vessel to appear. He looked upon his sword, The Doombringer, and wanted to carve another rune into it. Such a rune would bring his soul, and by extension his Oversoul, into the realm of Earth. Right on schedule, Ir Yut, approached him. "Speak," boomed the emerald Hive Prince.

"Crota, I bring you good news and bad news," said the Deathsinger.

"Proceed." Crota had no time for games. He wanted to see his father again.

"So first, we were able to send your commanders down to Terra."

"Good! Then proceed with the plan!"

"But, your Hand and Heart were destroyed mere minutes after we summoned them," croaked Ir Yut.

Crota was shocked. He looked at his right hand. _It's crumbling before my eyes._ He felt it in his chest as well. Long after he stole this world from the Vex and tied it to the Ascendant Plane, he tithed a bond between his corporeal body to 9 Hive, bred from his blood, ages accelerated by his sorcery, and entrusted to keep him stable when he freed himself from his netherrealm and entered Earth's realm. _My twins_ _are my hand and fist, my triplets: my eyes, my daughter is the heart, my pet is my might, Nazra and his cult feed my blades, and my wife, Omnigul shares my will. I will endure, I must endure!_ He turned to look at Ir Yut. "Summon the Fist, and the Blades." Ir Yut floated away, and returned 3 minutes later with Sardon, and the Blades of Crota. "You're about to embark on a dangerous mission," he said to his remaining lieutenants.

"You're not going to try to take Terra again, are you?" Sardon was tired of Crota's games. The Fist wanted to just relax in a fiery Throneworld of his own.

Crota bellowed, "This time, it's foolproof!"

"How so?" asked a skeptical Blade.

"Nazra!" shouted Crota. Nazra, The Sword of Crota, approached his father. Crota kneeled to give Nazra a weapon. "This is a Weapon of Sorrow, the Necrochasm." Nazra took it from Crota, and an Acolyte attached the Necrochasm to Nazra's back. The power of the weapon seeped into Nazra. He growled with satisfaction. "I shall guard your Soulstone, my lord."

"Then go, protect the site with Sardon, bring the foul Terra to its knees, and prepare it for my return."

* * *

Leviathan looked around in the caves below the Cosmodrome, using his Ghost as a flashlight. "See anything, bud?" asked the Titan

"Nothing yet," replied his Ghost, "Except for the fact that you miscalculated where you'd land!"

"Easy, Gabriel. I thought that we'd land in a Fallen pit, not a musky labyrinth."

"Of course you don't think! You fail to mention that my name is Gabriela, NOT Gabriel!" she cried.

"Because you still sound like a man," the Titan scoffed.

"Because YOU still haven't fixed my voice box!" the Ghost quipped.

"I'm not having this conversation again," Leviathan just kept walking down the tunnel, his figure casted an ominous shadow in front of him.

"Then when will we?" she asked again, "You're an Exo, you're good with Ghost mechanics, I've seen you repair a Ghost before. Why can't we do this?"

"Because, we're in the middle of-"

"No no no, not here, not right now. In the Tower, when you have all the tools and resources at your fingertips."

Leviathan sighed, "Because you're still a boy, and nothing can change that."

Gabriela angrily breathed, "UGH! Sometimes you make me angry!"

Leviathan gritted his teeth, _And you're still too emotional!_

Up ahead was a large underground room, no sunlight had a chance of entering the space dedicated to the Hive. In the middle of it all was a large crystal, dormant for now, and surrounded by 6 praying Acolytes. Two Knights stood off to the side, Hive swords in their hands, overseeing the ritual. Sardon whispered to Nazra, "What if they find us?"

Nazra shook his head, "Impossible! We're 10 feet underground! No Guardian could ever-!" Then he heard another voice, outside of the lieutenants and the singing Acolytes. _Human!? No, it's electrical. Robot!_

The Sword of Crota turned around, "Devout followers of Crota and Oryx," he chanted with a loud voice, "we have a tainted guest in our sanctuary!"

Leviathan chuckled, "Your sanctuary? I guess the Hive are as fanatical as they come!"

Sardon gritted his teeth, "YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" and he launched himself into the Titan, slamming his sword into the ground, quaking the earth beneath it. Leviathan jumped and charged into the Knight with all the Arc Light he could muster, but failed to get a dent into his armor. Sardon made another swing of his sword, cleaving the air in its way. The Titan was launched back into the wall from this reverberation, but got back up quickly and threw a Flashbang Grenade at the Knights, blinding them. He drew his Auto Rifle and fired 20 rounds into Sardon's head, diceing it into pieces.

Nazra roared in rage, he drew his own sword and flew at Leviathan's neck. The Titan raised his hands, palms facing the blade of the sword. When Nazra attempted to strike, Leviathan gripped the sword by the blade and used all of his fists' strength to shatter the blade while keeping it away from his neck. Nazra was thrown back by the force of his exploding sword. The Sword of Crota growled once more and unhinged his own Auto Rifle from his back, bone dry but deadly with acidic bullets. The Knight fired at the Titan without stopping to reload at all. Leviathan ducked behind a rock with his own Auto Rifle and Ghost, parts of his armor scarred from the Knight's Rifle.

Leviathan quickly turned on the comms and said, "Lilli! I need your help! I've fallen into a Hive Death Trap!"

* * *

Max and Lilli ran out of the Complex and back into the Mothyards. The Warlock asked, "Now, where exactly is Leviathan?"

Lilli shrugged, "No clue, but he did fall from Dock 13, so let's start there."

In the distance, Dredgen Yor laid himself in the prone position, aiming a sniper at the pair of Guardians. _Finally! I can kill these Light-bearers, steal their souls, and sacrifice them to my Lord._ He placed his finger on the trigger, aimed at the Hunter's head, and squeezed.

Lilli looked at the ledge of the Dark Hunter and shouted, "DUCK!"

**VANG!**

Lilli and Max ducked for cover behind a large rock. "WHAT THE HELLMOUTH WAS THAT?" cried Max.

"SHH!" Lilli covered his mouth and whispered, "We need to get out of here! Hold on to my back!"

"What!?"

"Just do it!" She grabbed his arms, wrapped them around her waist, then summoned a hoverbike below her torso, gripped the handles, and sped into the valley to the left. Max held on for dear life while Lilli was shouting, "WOOO HOOO! ISN'T THIS FUN!?"

Max looked like he was about to vomit, "CAN WE SLOW DOWN!?"

"NOT IF YOU WANT TO LIVE!"

Max turned his head to the right and threw up away from the bike. "ok," he said weakly, "i'm good." He later asked, "so who was that back there?

"The Dark Hunter, the one who killed my first mentor."

Max was confused, "Wait, there are Dark Guardians too?"

"Yeah, they all forsake the Traveler, the City, and their people from their lives. But no one knows why."

Lilli revved the engines of the bike, Max gripped Lilli tightly, drawing himself close out of fear, just as they reached a graveyard of rusted ships known as the Forgotten Shore, all the way into a secret area off to the Shore's right which led to the Hive Grottos.

The Hunter aimed her bike at Nazra and charged into his head. The knight turned to face the hoverbike in shock, awe, and terror, just before his head was cleaved away from his shoulders. Leviathan poked his head from behind a rock melting from acid. "Is it over?" He stood up walked to Lilli and Max, "Wait a minute," the Titan looked sternly at the Warlock, "since when were you dating my girl?"

"Your girl?" Max asked.

"HOLD UP!" Lilli shouted, "Does it look like he and I are dating?"

Leviathan raised an eyebrow, "Your cuddling position on your Sparrow suggests otherwise."

"I told him to hold on! And furthermore, in what way am I your girlfriend!?"

Leviathan gritted his teeth, "Is that how you talk to your leader, missy!?"

Max hopped off the Sparrow and marched over to the Titan, "Ok, sir. You've been nothing but a pain in the ass ever since I arrived here in the Tower, and you've terrorized Lillianna since Traveler-knows-when!"

"5 years!" she added.

"So here's my question to you: Why do it?"

Leviathan stomped over to Max, "Listen, bucko. This is MY team, MY missions, MY rules, and WE do things MY way from now on! Got it?"

"And if I refuse?"

Leviathan picked up the acidic Auto Rifle and aimed it at the Warlock's head, "I'll kill you, Lilli, Jess, and anyone else who stands in my way! Deal?"

Max began to shiver, "D-d-d-deal..."

The Titan smirked and sheathed the Rifle, "Then let's kill some Fallen."

* * *

Almost 4 centuries ago, a Titan by the name of Kabr ventured into a Vex stronghold known as the Vault of Glass, a massive confluence of Time running deep into the core of Venus. No one knows how it ended up there, only that it was both "appearing out of nowhere" and "deeply rooted into Venus's history" at the same time. Such was the purpose of the Vault and the Vex.

Osiris, the Warlock Vanguard preceding Ikora Rey, ordered Kabr and 2 other Guardians to find and destroy the Vault before it could reach into the fabric of Time itself. Praedyth, Kabr's Warlock, spent the previous nights reading Osiris's books on the Vex, including his thesis: "The Nature of Time Travel." The Hunter of Kabr's Fireteam, Pahanin, was busy cleaning his fingernails while Kabr polished his weapons. The next day, Praedyth told his teammates, "I am not too sure about this. What if we get lost in the Vault, or lost in Time?"

"Oh relax, Praedyth," said Kabr, "You worry too much."

 _Famous last words,_ Praedyth thought.

And he was right, very right.

They barely got past the main door and the Praetorians guarding it, to begin with. When they passed that, Kabr began to hear voices from the rock tunnels leading to the Templar's Well. If they thought the entrance was a challenge, then they were in for a nasty surprise.

When they reached the Well, the Templar itself appeared and summoned all its yellow Oracles, gyrating cubes that could rewrite your future in an instant. Kabr grabbed one, trying to destroy it, but it felt like water to him, rushing through his mind and bringing back his past, of the Venetian waves coursing past his body as he swam in the ocean, admiring the scenery of a once bright future. "I remember... happy times," he said.

Praedyth, the only Exo, knew better than to touch the Oracle and kept his distance. The Templar still infiltrated his mind and filled it with the secrets of the universe, beyond what his mind could comprehend. "AUGH!" he cried, "It hurts! IT BURNS!"

Pahanin was easily spooked and tried to run away, but 5 headless Fanatics found him and negated him. Praedyth, with his quantum CPU and memory drives melting, attached his circuits to another Oracle, and backed up his entire life into the framework of the Vault. _I will save the City from this place._

Kabr, however, slowly transformed into a Vex as centuries passed. His flesh melted into radiolaria, but it didn't leave his bones. Instead, the radiolaria gathered itself inside his rib cage, while a new set of armor grew from the Oracle, enveloping the skeleton inside a suit of armor made from glass and metal. The suit grew larger, as tall as the Well itself, spikes of glass adorned the armor in an orderly manner.

Atheon, Time's Conflux and the Essence of the Vault, was born.


	6. Ancient Powers

Max, Lilli, and Leviathan reemerged from the Grotto and into the Forgotten Shore, speeding across the rusted ships to a Terrestrial Complex on the other side of the Shore. Leviathan picked up some intelligence reports on the House of Kings holed up in the Skywatch and the Terrestrial Complex. Before they could even reach the road leading to the complex, something caught their attention and pulled them aside to one of the ships. An ancient antenna poked through the hard ground, emitting some radio signals into every communication device in the area, including their helmets. "Для всех, кто может это слышать, я подвергаюсь атаке! Пожалуйста, ответь!" No one responded for a while. The signal spoke again, this time in English with a heavy Russian accent, "To all who can hear this, I am under attack! Please respond!"

Leviathan turned his comms on and said very plainly, "This is Leviathan-3 of the Last City's Guardian Corps. State your name, rank, and intention."

The voice said, "I am Rasputin, Warmind of Earth, and I need help! An evil cult of zombies are knocking at my door!"

Max widened his eyes, "Hang in there, Rasputin! We're coming to save you!"

Leviathan spat back at Max, "No! We're not!"

Lilli looked at Leviathan for a good and long minute, "No, we are! This mission has become bigger than just pursuing Fallen based on your hatred of them! The Hive have already claimed the Lunar Complex and most of the Skywatch, they've burrowed into the Earth, and now they're attacking Rasputin!"

The Titan scoffed, "A Warmind is nothing compared to us, and we've beaten the Hive twice now! Now the Fallen-"

"Are you really going to abandon someone in need of our help over your petty and unreasonable hatred of the Fallen?"

"They burned our City, and now I shall burn theirs!" He stormed off without saying another word.

Lilli and Max stared between each other and Leviathan's departure, before saying, "As we said before, we're coming to help you, Rasputin!"

"Thank you! I'm giving you coordinates to my bunker. Enter through there ASAP!"

Max and Lilli followed the Warmind's location to a black diamond tube resting beneath one of the rusted ships. Inside the tube was a surprisingly bright and futuristic tunnel with a stairwell leading down into the Warmind's Bunker. The main part of the Bunker was called the Seraphim Vault, the large containment area for Rasputin's computer core stack. This was to the side of a small bridge at the end of the stairwell. The bridge was perfectly nestled in a large, but short tunnel, the end of which led to the rest of the Bunker.

Incoincidentally, the Spawn of Crota was also there. Thrall thrashed at anything they could get their claws on, Acolytes blasted and hacked at console terminals, and Knights slashed at circuit boxes. Max and Lilli rushed to the bridge, and as soon as they reached the last stair, every single Hive turned to the Guardians, and let out a single, blood-curdling scream.

The Thrall horde charged at Max. The Warlock fired scout rifle bullets into the horde, bursting their heads open with each bullet. Lilli ran forward, jumped over the Thrall, and threw 3 knives into 3 Acolytes, killing them instantly. The Knights retaliated with their swords, but Lilli was quicker. She aimed her hand cannon at one's head, right in between the eyes, and fired. Surprisingly, the bullet punctured the head and threw the Knight's helmet away from its wearer. Lilli wasn't so lucky with the next 3 Knights; she prepped her weapon, aimed, fired, but failed to kill the next Knight. Max got the two behind the frontal Knight, but couldn't reach the third in time before the sword attempted a slam into the Hunter. Luckily, Lilli dodged it and shot the Knight in the head, killing it. Max caught up to her and asked, "Are you ok?"

She nodded, "Yeah, but we need to move on."

They entered the Seraphim Vault, only to discover it has been thrashed into pieces, with only the central computer core intact. The Hive in the room turned all of their attention to the Guardians, charging without regard for anything in their way. Max tossed a Vortex Grenade at the horde, dissolving them into dust, then absorbing the dust into nothingness. He closed the Vortex and ran to the main console. "Ok, Ras," he said, "I'm just going to perform a diagnosis on you."

"Make it quick!" The Warmind demanded, "I think I can hear another wave coming!"

Just like that, a green ring appeared in the observation room and expanded in its air, teleporting Omnigul into the Seraphim Vault. "Ah! Little Lights!" The Will of Crota cackled, "So glad you could join us!"

Masses of Thrall spawned around the core, screaming at a vile high pitch. They charged at Max and Lilli at alarming speeds, but the Guardians were ready. Lilli pulled an incendiary grenade out of her pocket, pressed a button on the side and tossed it into the horde. Once it exploded, the horde began to burn and run away in fear; some Thrall had tiny pieces of shrapnel stuck in their backs and arms. Omnigul growled, "LOW LIFES!" and swiped her hand over the Thrall, dissolving them, "I should've sent the most faithful first!"

Acolytes and Knights appeared next, not hesitating to attack the Guardians from the get-go. Max and Lilli split up, shooting down as many Hive as they can. One of the Acolytes' guns tore into Lilli's arm, forcing her to take cover. Unfortunately, her arm won't heal itself over time.

Max shot down a few Acolytes before moving onto the Knights. Omnigul screamed in vain, "MIGHT OF CROTA! COME FORTH AND LAY WASTE TO THE EARTH!"

A giant Orge appeared from a giant green portal, enraged at everything it saw. The Might of Crota charged at the core, but Max hurled a huge Nova Bomb at the Ogre, catching its attention. The Might growled, charging after the Warlock at an albeit slow speed.

The Hunter tore a piece of clothing off and wrapped it tightly around her arm, squeezing the wound. She then ran to the Ogre and stabbed her knives into its butt, climbing up its back. The Ogre tried to shake her off, stupidly clawing at its own back, failing to grab Lilli. She kept climbing and dodging as best she could, until the Might grabbed her by the legs and lifted her in front of its ugly face. "Wow," she said, "You make Leviathan look handsome."

The Ogre paid no attention to her joke and opened its mouth, ready to eat her. Lilli repulsed, "Ugh! That's just disgusting!" She took out one of her grenades, pressed a button, and tossed it into the Ogre's mouth. "Allow me to clean up that gunk for you!" She tossed a few more grenades in, then stabbed the Ogre's hand, causing it to drop her to the floor. She tucked and rolled, saving herself from the fall. The Ogre growled again, then it convulsed. Its insides were being set ablaze, the flames eventually worked their way to the outside, burning the Might of Crota alive. The Ogre let out a final guttural cry before it collapsed into a pile of ash and dust.

Omnigul screamed, "MUST I DO EVERYTHING MYSELF!?"

Rasputin played loud opera music on all the speakers in the Vault, Omnigul screamed in agony and disappeared. Max and Lilli covered their ears whilst laying down. Rasputin stopped and apologized, "Sorry, guys. But I needed to get that witch out."

"It's a Hive Wizard," Lilli corrected, "and she works for Crota."

The Warmind asked, "Who's Crota?"

Max shrugged, "We're trying to figure that out ourselves. Can you help us?"

"How!? I told you-!"

"All we know is that his cult comes from the Moon."

Rasputin paused, then asked, "Did you say, 'the Moon'?"

"Yeah, we did."

Rasputin paused again, contemplating his next choice of words, "I might be able to help, but my usual means of communicating with the other planets and their Warminds is shut down."

"So what can we do?"

"Simple, you'll need to manually turn it on."

* * *

Leviathan stood tall over his recent victory over the Fallen House of Kings. He fought them in the Terrestrial Complex first, then exterminated the rest in the open area of the Skywatch, right in between the Lunar, Terrestrial, and Jovian Complexes. _There! Now to deal with the Devils..._

Lilli interrupted his thoughts over the comms, "Leviathan! We need your help!"

The Titan grunted, "About time you apologized."

Lilli let out a disgruntled sigh, "I'm not apologizing for your behavior."

"Then why would you call me again? Hmm?"

"We need you to go to the Terrestrial Complex, flip a switch controlling a satellite array, and stand guard."

Leviathan chuckled, "For what?"

"Ummm..." Lilli stopped, choosing her next words correctly, "for Fallen?"

He laughed, "Ha! I just killed the Fallen there!

The Titan nodded, "Fair enough." He dashed back into the Complex, ran all the way to a smaller open roof area, found the master control switch, and flipped it on. Immediately, all of the consoles sprung to life.

Outside, three satellite arrays began to open up, revealing their triangular shapes. Leviathan stood in shook at them, "They work!? After all this time!? That's...impressive..."

The sky around the Skywatch turned into an ominous green as three green orbs appeared just above the platform outside the console room, spawning Thrall on the left and right sides, and Acolytes down the middle.

Leviathan grumbled, "They lied to me!" He cocked his acidic auto rifle and fired into the Hive hoard. More Thrall and Acolytes appeared, this time led by 3 Wizards and a Knight. The Titan jumped from place to place, thanks to his Exo frame, and fired 3 shotgun shells into the 3 wizards. The Knight and 3 Acolytes surprised and jumped the Titan, bringing him down to the ground and started thrashing at him.

He growled, overcharged his systems with Arc energy and slammed the ground, sending Acolytes and Knights in every direction, and then he got up. His armor was now scratched, revealing his metal 'skin' and wires. "Gabe, repair my armor," the Titan demanded. Silence emanated from the Ghost. "Gabriel!" More silence. "GABRIEL, GET OUT OF MY BACKPACK RIGHT NOW AND REPAIR ME DAMNIT!"

"I don't respond to my old name, Leviathan! You, my Ghoul, of all people should know this!" she cried.

"We don't have time for this! Repair me right now!"

"Not until you apologize!"

"No! I won't!"

3 large Acolytes appeared out of nowhere, carrying nothing but a set of Hive runes. Leviathan turned to face them, but before he could attack, they tossed a rune at his chest, attaching itself to his frame, stunning him. Gabriela remained in the backpack until the Acolytes approached the Titan. "Look at the fragile Guardian," one hissed.

The second one said, "So weak, and helpless!"

The third finished with, "Don't fret, little one. We'll take you back to mommy. She will make you feel better!" To the other two Acolytes, the third said, "Take him back to the Hellmouth! It's time for Crota to return!" They chanted in the Hive tongue, teleporting a screaming Leviathan and themselves back to the Moon.

Max and Lilli arrived at the Complex just as the sky began to clear. _We're too late!_


	7. The Next Steps

Max and Lilli raced back to the City to deliver the bad news: Leviathan was kidnapped by the Spawn of Crota. As soon as they landed their ship in the Hangar, they ran up to the plaza and reported to the Vanguard. Zavala's eyes widened, "Your fireteam leader was kidnapped!?"

"Yes, sir," the Hunter replied.

"By the Hive, you said?" asked Ikora.

"Yes, ma'am."

Cayde raised his hand, "And did he say anything on the comms about his attackers?"

"No, sir. He just screamed," Lilli recalled, "In fact, everything was screaming on his end."

Cayde nodded, "Yep, it's the Hive. Those guys love to scream."

"Cayde!" Zavala boomed, "This is no time for jokes!"

"Boys!" Ikora rallied, "Focus! One of our own was taken by the Hive, we must reclaim him. Now, what do we know?"

"Leviathan was kidnapped," said Zavala.

"No doubt by the Hive," added Cayde.

"The Spawn of Crota are planning something terrible on Earth," Lilli added.

Max declared, "My Ghost said that the Spawn comes from the Moon."

The Vanguard collectively turned to Max and asked, "THE MOON!?"

Max was baffled, "Uh, yeah. What's wrong?"

Zavala shook his head, so did Ikora, "We can't save him now."

"What do you mean by 'can't'?"

Ikora rested a hand on Max's shoulder and said, "The last time a fireteam of Guardians set foot on the Moon, they never returned."

Zavala commented, "And that was in response to another failed battle on the Moon's surface. Heh, 'failed battle'? More like 'brutal massacre'."

"Come on, guys!" Max cried out, "You've got to help us!"

Zavala shook his head, "Our decision stands. Besides, our hands are tied."

"Hey!" shouted Cayde, "Don't I get a say in this?"

Zavala ignored him, dismissed Max and Lilli, and went back to his 'conquest of the Cosmodrome' plans.

Lilli heaved a sigh, "Well...that's that."

Max eyed her, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that we can't save him," she repeated.

"Can't we ask whoever's in charge of the City?"

"The Speaker?" Lilli laughed, "I wouldn't be surprised if he dismissed us, too."

"Why would he do that?"

"Why wouldn't he? He's a politician first and a leader second, they all are."

"They?"

As soon as they walked out into the Plaza, Lilli opened her arms perpendicular to her chest and spun around, "Look around you, Max. What do you see?"

Max took in the view, "A city? A plaza full of Guardians?"

"Look deeper; do you trust this place?"

Max paused, "I don't know..."

Lilli approached her partner, "Max, this place is crawling with politics, ideals that create rifts between people, their friends and families, and their goals."

"It doesn't mean that they're evil."

Lilli sighed, "I came to the City when I was young. My mother, my sister, and I escaped from a terrible place known Palamon. The Mayor there was ruthless and cruel; almost no one escaped under his authority."

Max was shocked, "Oh my, I'm sorry."

Lilli continued, "The worst part wasn't escaping with only our cloaks and each other in the pouring rain, nor was it the number of nights we slept without a roof over our heads. No, the worst part was being shoved away at the gates, all because we didn't have some piece of paper that the Mayor wouldn't give us! Do you know who it was that denied my family?"

Max shook his head.

"It was Leviathan!"

Max's eyes bulged.

"I'm afraid so. So tell me, why do you want to rescue him, even when he ridiculed us so much?"

Max took a while before saying, "I don't agree with his ideals, either. He fetishizes you, bullies us, and even hates anyone who stands in his way."

Lilli nodded, "Exactly!"

"BUT! That doesn't mean that we judge his fate."

"Why can't we!?"

Max paused, "Because we need to do the right thing."

Lilli scoffed, "Good luck with that."

"Besides," he quipped, "we need to prove him wrong!"

The Hunter looked baffled, "How!?"

The Warlock explained, "Right now, he hates us, all because of some made-up misconceptions that formed inside his circuitry. If we can prove those misconceptions false, maybe he'll start to like us."

Lilli sighed, "Fine, Max. We'll go to the Moon and save him. But don't say that I never warned you about him."

* * *

Leviathan woke up to find himself strapped to a flat rock, roughly the size of his body, being carried through a dark chamber by magic. Two wizards floated in front of him while one other brought up the rear, all three held reverent poses as they moved, proceeding slowly through their Chamber of Night, singing in throaty voices. Thrall and Acolytes bowed before the Wizards, joining in their song, then following them to the heart of the Chamber.

Leviathan grunted, "WHERE AM I!? WHAT IS GOING ON!?"

"Hush, creature!" The Wizard said from behind, "Soon, you will see what true power looks like!"


	8. Fading Light

Eris Morn panted again, after running away from the Fallen. She still wasn't used to her disconnect with the Light, not since she encountered Crota in his Throne World. He and his followers cut down Eris's fireteam as if they were mere Thrall, stealing their Light and ripping their bodies into shreds, all from a single song from the Deathsinger. Eris barely survived, but as soon as she reached the surface, the former Hunter realized that her Light was drained. She took one good look in the mirror to find out that not only was her helmet nearly shattered, but her pair of fiery yellow eyes was replaced by a trio of glowing, venomous green eyes. _What did they do to me!? Fool! Don't you remember what Toland said!? You're becoming one of THEM!_ She wondered how much time had passed while she was escaping from the Hellmouth, so she spent all of yesterday looking for a console that could possibly tell her the time.

Most of the Moon's surface was overrun by Fallen House of Exile. A Fallen House without a Kell, Archon Priest, and Prime Servitor was doomed to disintegrate; however, the House of Wolves refused to do this. For 5 years after Skolas's defeat, the Wolves retreated to the Moon, only looking to survive. Without a Ketch, Prime, religious and political leader, the Wolves began to fight amongst themselves, until a Dreg named Frigoris yelled the Fallen equivalent of "ENOUGH!" and ordered the leaderless Wolves into making a base for themselves, as well as commanding the Captains and any brave Vandals to patrol the surface. Frigoris gained the title of 'Baron', given to him by his peers. The Dregs would've named him 'Kell', but Frigoris didn't want a title that equated him to the cruel politicians and priests that docked his arms. Plus, the Captains didn't want a low-life to be their new king.

Eris managed to sneak inside an old Chinese installation sitting on Archer's Line, one that specialized in colliding electrons to create fuel for the Colony Ships, and not just Chinese ones either. In here was a partially active console, hopefully with a clock program still intact. Eris flipped the master control switch, but the room remained dark. _Idiot! No rusted Golden Age facility would have a functioning electrical system!_ She sighed, "I miss my Arc Blade..."

Just then, she heard a jumpship approaching the Moon's surface, and beamed. _The Guardians came for me! Wait! Do I-?_ She turned around to find an old and dull mirror, and her reflection bore an ugly forehead and eye sockets resembling the Hive. _They took more than just my Light!_

* * *

At the bottom of Archer's Line, Max and Lilli touched down on the Moon, fully armored from head to toe against the vacuum of space. They ran up to the Chinese facility and walked in to find a Guardian tying a brown bandana, which looked like it was torn from her cloak, around her forehead. Just as she pulled her hood up to conceal her bulbous scalp, Max cleared his throat and said, "Excuse me?"

The Guardian turned around and stared at the duo with her 3 green eyes, "What do you want?"

Lilli and Max were taken aback by the sight of Hive eyes slapped onto an Awoken Hunter's head. "Umm...well..."

"Speak, Warlock," she demanded.

Max sighed and straightened himself, "We need help navigating the Moon."

"Good luck with that," the Hive Awoken snapped.

"Given your...um...experiences with the Hive, we were wondering if you could...help us?"

The Awoken sighed, "Let me make myself clear: I am in no way, shape, or form going to be tangling with the Hive again, as you can clearly see."

"You mean you lost your Light?" Lilli asked.

The Awoken answered, "More than that. I lost my fireteam, my friends, my Ghost, and my patience! Now, if you don't mind, I'm looking for a ship. I need to warn the City!"

"We already tried that."

"And!?"

Lilli slumped, "They wouldn't listen."

Max asked the corrupted Awoken, "Just out of curiosity, who are you?"

"I am Eris Morn, the last of the Fireteam named Crota's Bane, and now I need to escape."

"Well," the Warlock started, "we do have a ship, but it's the only one we have, and...well...it's our only way back to the City, too."

Eris groaned, "I have no time for sympathy, Warlock! I need your ship!"

"How about this:" Lilli proposed, "You can come back to Earth on our ship, if and only if you agree to help us find our teammate."

Eris groaned again, "I don't see why I should."

"Well, enjoy your company with the Fallen and Hive, alone on the Moon," Lilli bravely said.

Fear ran up Eris's spine, "Ok ok, fine. I'll help you."

Lilli grinned, "Thanks, Eris. Now, tell us more about why the Hive would kidnap a Guardian."

Eris sighed, "Why else? The Hive see everything as flawed, until it is cut into their shape by the swords of their Gods."

"And Crota is one of those gods?" Max asked.

Eris laughed, "Hah! No! Crota wishes he could be, but he is from the blood of his father, Oryx, the Supreme Hive God. As much as he and his Spawn want to cut all ties to Oryx, they can't."

"I don't understand, why would they kidnap a Guardian?"

"The Traveler's Light," Eris answered, "is a mysterious thing. No one knows its origin, and we can only guess at its goals. One thing is certain, Light is powerful, and that scares and empowers the Hive. If they can twist it into something devious, something absolutely dark, then they can harness it for whatever they want."

Max snapped his fingers in enlightenment, "Crota!" Then he thought, "Wait, is he dead, or hidden, or something?"

Eris shook her head, "I'll explain later. Right now, you need more information, and I need to get back to the City."

Lilli pulled a small contraption from her pocket and said, "Here, it's a one-way teleport back to the City. Just press the button."

Eris took the teleport, pressed the button in the center, and was instantly transported back to the City.

Max asked Lilli, "Wait, you had a teleporter?"

The Hunter laughed, "No, Leviathan did. I picked it from his pocket when you ran into him."

Max raised an eyebrow, "Why would he have a teleporter? Shouldn't his Ghost revive him if he dies?"

"Have you seen him lately? He's too scared of anything that can shoot him back, and tries to assert dominance over us."

"Fair enough."

The pair of Guardians walked out of the building and around the Moon's surface, looking for any traces of Hive or Leviathan. They searched all of Archer's Line, the Anchor of Light adjacent to the Line, and the outside ring of the Hellmouth, the center of attention on the surface of the Moon. For 2 hours, they found nothing. Then, Max found something branching away from the Anchor; a path leading to a huge, sealed Hive door. Max told Lilli through the comms, "Hey, I found something interesting."

"What is it?"

"A giant Hive door. With 3 runes locking it."

"Max..."

"Level with me here: if we understand what the runes meant, or find some sort of key altar on the surface, we can open the door, charge and blast our way through the Hive, and rescue our teammate from their ritual."

"Or," Lilli suggested, "we can find another way in, aside from the front door."

Max nodded, "or that." Just then, the runes began to heat up and melt the metal locks they were attached to. Max stared at the door, "Uh, Lilli!?"

"Yeah? What is it?"

The doors broke off the hinges and came crashing down around the Warlock. Max promptly ran away and screamed, "HEEEELLLLP!!!!"

Thrall flooded the doorway just as Max climbed up to higher ground. Acolytes and Knights followed the Thrall in smaller numbers and began shooting at the Warlock. He retaliated by spraying bullets, but to no avail. Max frantically glided over to a new area with cover, throwing his new scatter grenades at the Hive hoard. They worked wonders against the Thrall, but the deceased were quickly replaced by more Thrall and Acolytes. Still being shot at, Max launched a Nova Bomb at the Hive Hoard, successfully demolishing all of the Thrall, Acolytes, and most of the Knights. Max landed on the ground and killed the remaining Knights with headshots from his scout rifle.

Max panted through the comms, "On second thought, Lilli...I've got it covered."

"Well that's a waste of time!" The Hunter shouted. _She sounds close._ Max whirled around fast, his eyes locked onto her as she descended the chasm to the door. "You cry out for help, then say the fight's over!?"

The Warlock stuttered, "I-I-I didn't know! I just got scared and-"

"The next time you cry for help, make sure you mean it!"

Max shakily nodded, "Y-yes, ma'am."

Lilli walked through the door undisturbed, searching for any trace of Leviathan, while Max followed behind her. They looked and walked around the dimly lit dark green room, finding nothing out of the Hive ordinary.

Then Lilli felt something hard under her boot, and that something weakly cried out, "pleeeeeease...stop..."

Lilli jumped back, "OH MY TRAVELER!" and picked up a Ghost, "Are you alright?!"

"nnnooooo...." the Ghost wailed, "my ghoul...he's...he's..."

"Save your Light, we need to get you back to the City," then she turned to Max and tossed him a small fob, "Hey! Catch!" Max turned to catch the fob midair and pressed the top button, summoning the ship. Lilli comforted the dying Ghost while their ride arrived, "Everything's going to be fine, you're safe."

"...save him...save my guardian...save Leviath-..." The Ghost's Light and her shell faded to grey. Lilli wept for Gabriela as their ship appeared outside the door, then a new emotion emerged through the tears, "Mark my words, Gabriela," she said to the dead Ghost, "I may not save Leviathan, but I most certainly will avenge you!"

* * *

Leviathan was now strapped to an obsidian table, similar to the one Dredgen Yor was strapped to during his conversion. Instead of being laid down horizontally, he was hoisted vertically, the obsidian plate digging into the ground, but he himself was 2 feet above. The giant chamber that surrounded him was the most eerie, primal, and dark of all the Hive Chambers on the Moon; this was the dreaded Chamber of Night.

And it was there that Leviathan realized, _I am going to be sacrificed!_


	9. Darkness Rising

When Max and Lilli returned to the Tower, they gave the shell of Gabriela to Speaker Alamo for a proper funeral, then spoke to Eris about Leviathan's Ghost. "It's just as I thought," she said, "your friend is about to be sacrificed to Crota. His Light is gone, and the whispers are louder than before."

"Whispers?" Max asked, "What whispers?"

"The Hive communicate with each other by whispering across the fabric of space. My time in the pit has opened the doors for me, and me alone."

"So why haven't you turned against us?"

"Why else, Warlock? I'm loyal to my City, and it is this loyalty that keeps my body away from them. You could learn something like that from Lilli."

"I am!"

"Your past says otherwise."

"What? My past?"

Eris grimaced, then corrected herself, "I need two things to be done before we can stop Crota completely: First, I need the World's Grave."

Max shook his head in shock, "The World's what now!?"

"The World's Grave; easily the largest library in the universe, and it's only a few discs wide."

Max sighed with relief, "Oh, a library. Why didn't you just say so?"

Eris groaned, "ugh, I just did! The second thing I need is a shard of the Sword of Crota. And I'm not referring to his son."

Lilli and Max looked perplexed, "Huh?"

Eris answered with, "Those Hive Knights and Wizards that you killed in the Cosmodrome were some of Crota's most devoted lieutenants, all named after pieces of him: Omnigul the Will, Ir Yut the Deathsinger, Coroker the Hand, Sardon the Fist, Zydax the Might, Erxoy the Heart, Xig the Left Eye, Pex the Right Eye, Hedlar the Central Eye, and then there's Nazra, Son and Sword of Crota. Of all them, only the Eyes, the Will, and the Deathsinger remain. To stop them from resurrecting Crota in our world, I will need the core from Crota's corporeal sword of Darkness and the World's Grave. Do you understand?"

The Warlock and Hunter nodded.

"Take this map and go back to the Moon, I'll be waiting here when you return."

As Max and Lilli left for their ship, something dawned on the Warlock's mind, _My past? What past? Was she referring to my time before I became a Guardian?_ His Ghost popped out and said, "I don't know why she referenced your past, but I know this: You died as a warrior devoted to your cause, and that alone made me choose you. Remember that if nothing else comes to mind."

Max simply nodded, then went back to his thoughts, just as he boarded the ship again. Lilli sat in the pilot's seat and flew themselves back to the Moon. "So," she began, "You seem interested in the World's Grave. Do you want to take that task?"

Max shook his head, "No, I think it might be easier for both of us if I destroy the Sword."

The Hunter was taken aback, "I beg your pardon!"

"The Sword is corporeal and has captured the interest of Eris, which means that it is imbued with Darkness."

"And you doubt my Light!?"

Max sighed, "I don't know if you have it or not. But one thing is certain: that Dark Sword needs to be destroyed by its direct opposite, and I as a Ghoul have a stronger connection to the Light."

The Hunter calmed down, "So we take the missions that best suit us?"

The Warlock nodded, "Yes, but if you'd like, I can call you for help and vice versa."

Lilli half-grinned, "Thanks."

As soon as they touched down in Archer's Line, Max started running off to the left, while Lilli ran over to another building on the opposite side of their drop off, smaller than the one manning the Chinese particle accelerator. Before they separated, Lilli shouted, "Yo! Max!"

The Warlock turned to face her, "Yes?"

She pulled a rod out of her pocket, pressed a button on the side, and tossed it in the air, toward the Warlock. "Jump on!"

The rod transformed into Lilli's Sparrow and landed softly on the ground, albeit on its back. Max looked at Lilli in mild shock, "You're lending me your Sparrow!?"

"It's a long way to the Hellmouth, if Eris's map serves us correctly," Lilli justified. Max eagerly hopped on and revved the engine coils, but before he could leave, Lilli called out, "On one condition!"

The Warlock turned the hoverbike around, "Name it!"

"Don't scratch the paint!"

Max laughed, "Don't worry about it!" and he sped away to the Hellmouth. He raced across the Lunar valley and small craters until he reached the Hellmouth.

Once there, Eris spoke into his comms, "The Sword of Crota was forged by four Swarm Lords. Your job is to slay the Lords with the Sword, fracture it, and bring me its core."

"Sounds like a plan, Eris." As soon as Max entered the Hive Fortress on the other end of the Hellmouth's surface ring, three Hive Knights began attacking him. The Warlock quickly took cover and fired multiple shots into their heads, blinding two and killing one. Before advancing, Max asked, "How will I know where to find the Sword?"

Eris answered with, "The Sword eats Light, follow the path that makes you weaker."

Max followed this path all the way to a scaly circular room with a huge central chain. He entered through the west end, the Sword floated on the east side, and two more exits lay to the north and south ends. Max approached the Sword, but as it started to slowly sap his Light, he stepped back and asked, "Um, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Having second thoughts, Warlock?"

"Well, the Sword eats Light, and if I touch it, I might grow weaker."

Eris groaned, "If you're not willing to sacrifice your power for the greater good, then you are already weak."

Without a third thought, Max grabbed the Sword of Crota by the handle. The blade drooped, Max felt the weight of the Sword as it ate his Light, both physical and emotional weight bore him down. He screamed an unholy scream, as apocalyptic images flooded his mind.

_A betrayal of trust..._   
_A nuclear war without end..._   
_A world on fire..._

Max gritted his teeth and lifted the Sword to eye level. As the images flooded his mind, hordes of Thrall began to surround him, led by 3 adorned Acolytes. "TAKE HIM!" shouted the Triplets. Max charged with lightning speed at the incoming Thrall, slicing through all of them without delay or difficulty. The Triplet Acolytes, the Eyes of Crota, stared at the Warlock in shock and horror. "RETREAT!" they shouted, hands in the air, running away hastily. Max growled and charged through them, cleanly slicing through their abdomens, killing them.

More Thrall screamed in rage, this time led by 4 Hive Knights, the Swarm Lords. "Here they come," Eris eagerly said, "Don't let up!"

Max charged at the first Lord, clashing swords with extreme force, battling for their lives. Max swung again and again, channeling more strength into each successive swing. The Swarm Lord was now on his knees crying, "LORDS HELP ME!" But it was too late; by the time the other three Lords arrived, the first one was stabbed and beheaded. Max turned on the other Lords with a fire never before seen in anyone's eyes. The Second one ran toward Max, but the Warlock was quicker by cutting open the Lord's stomach. The Third Lord charged, and died when Max swung the Sword vertically. The Final Lord barely had to move to get stabbed in the chest by the same Sword he was commissioned to create.

Max plunged the Sword deeper and said, "It is done!" He drew the Sword out of the dead Lord and pushed the Knight to the ground, panting heavily. Then he dropped the Sword to the ground and cried, the same images flooded his mind, but this time at a slower rate, before stopping at the final image, the Earth ablaze and the former civilization left dying and in ruins. He cried and wailed loudly, his sorrow echoing throughout the room, throughout the Fortress. The Sword of Crota began to crack as Max wailed, then it shattered when he let out the loudest cry of pain, for it wasn't just a ghoul's Light that demolished it...

It was the endless pain that Max had experienced in his life before.


	10. Sacrificial Exo

Lilli just finished stealing the World's Grave when she heard Max screaming in pain. _Max!_ She ran through the Circle of Bones, one of the lower rings of the Hellmouth and the center of the Hive Fortress, before reaching the Chamber of the Sword. Max laid his back perpendicular to the floor, his knees up to his crying eyes, and his hands were working endlessly to wipe tears away. The Hunter rushed to the Warlock, "What's wrong?"

Max didn't shift an inch, "It's nothing," he sobbed, "nothing to be concerned about."

"You screamed in anguish! It reverberated throughout the Fortress!"

Max shook his head, "I don't want you to be burdened..."

"How so?" she asked.

"Remember that false alarm? Or how I suggested that we save Leviathan?"

Lilli knelt close to the Warlock, "You only wanted to do the right thing, and no one can blame you for wanting to stay alive. It's just human nature." The Hunter let out a sigh and said with a small laugh, "Besides, I like a challenge, and you still owe me."

Max sighed, "I saw the end of the world, the skies ablaze, and an endless war consuming all!" He broke down in tears.

Lilli rested a hand on his shoulder, "It's okay, it's just a dream."

Max shook, "No, it wasn't! It was real! It felt so real!" He broke down and cried again, "Is this my future? Or my past?"

Max's Ghost came out of his backpack and said, "Hold on, I'm restoring your Light." With 3 pulses, the Ghost restored Max's Light, and the Warlock wiped away his tears. "Feeling better?"

"A little bit, but what did I see?"

"I don't know, and I don't like it."

The Hunter stood, "This is ridiculous, Ghost."

Max's Ghost looked at Lilli dead in the eyes, "No, it's not. I healed him when-"

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY IT! I've had it up to here with the lies! First Leviathan, and now you!?"

"You don't know what you're talking about!"

"Guys!" Max shouted, "Stop fighting!" Then he settled down, "Ghost, Lilli was trying her best. There's no shame in that."

"But I-"

"We know, but I think that you should compliment her for trying."

"Aren't you going to teach her something?" The Ghost quipped.

Max looked over at her and said, "No, she doesn't need lessons now."

The Ghost sighed, "Fine, I'm sorry Lilli."

The Hunter bowed gratefully, then crouched down and picked up the Sword's Core. Surprisingly, it didn't affect her like it did to Max. "Well," she said, "Looks like we're done here." She turned on the comms, "Eris, we're coming home!"

Just then, a loud growl emanated throughout the Fortress. **_I LIVE AS I WAS EXILED._**

Max and Lilli shivered, "Crota!" They rushed out of the room and back into the Circle of Bones, listening for another growl similar to the first. **_I AM THE REAPER OF WORLDS! ALL WILL BOW TO ME!_** The growl came from the direction of the World's Grave, and from there, the two Guardians ran through tunnels infested with Thrall and Cursed Thrall, through rooms guarded by lesser Knights and Acolytes, before reaching a darkened hallway, which resembled a large tunnel more than a hallway. The dark hallway had a squiggly path leading to the Chamber of Night at the end, and was only lit by eerie green lanterns on both sides every 5 sharp pillars. Like in the tunnels of the World's Grave, this hallway was infested with Hive Thrall, Acolytes, and Knights. Max and Lilli fired into the Hive hoard, then marched on through the hallway. As they progressed, the hallway gained structure and looked less like a large tunnel, but the dark ambience remained.

At long last, they reached the Chamber of Night, the largest and darkest chamber of the Hive Fortress on normal days, but today, green flames danced along the walls, the giant dragon rib bones that lined the Chamber were set ablaze. In the center was a giant green crystal with the Face of Crota set inside it, surrounding the crystal was Omnigul and 3 other wizards dressed like her, and behind the crystal, stabbed into the top of a small cliff, was an obsidian slab with a certain restrained Exo Titan. Max and Lilli gasped at the sight of it all. "Leviathan!" they whispered.

The 4 Wizards turned their heads to Max and Lilli. "Looks like we have guests, girls!" Omnigul grinned, "Let's give them a warm welcome!" The green flames grew larger, even spreading to the Chamber's entrance, sealing the Guardians in. "OH MIGHTY CROTA! WE OFFER YOU THESE SACRIFICES OF LIGHT IN YOUR NAME! RISE FROM YOUR THRONE AND CLAIM THE SOL SYSTEM AS YOURS!"

The giant crystal began sapping the remaining Light out of Leviathan, the Titan weakly convulsed, Max rushed forward and threw a Vortex Grenade at the crystal, draining one of the Wizards out of existence. He closed it with a fist, and accidentally broke a piece of the crystal off, causing the small shard to fall. The Wizards gasped, "He took a bite out of Crota's soul!?" They rallied in anger against the Warlock, "SACRIFICE HIM! OUR LORD MUST HAVE HIS POWER!!"

Max shot down 2 Wizards, then tried to launch a Nova Bomb at Omnigul, only to be stopped midway by a sniper on the sidelines. The bullet punctured his stomach, Max fell to his knees, Dredgen Yor grimaced but reloaded, _this time, my aim won't be terrible_. Lilli caught on him quickly, and fired 5 shots in his direction from her hand cannon, 2 of which punctured Yor's sniper rifle, 1 tore through Yor's thigh, and 2 more missed his head. Yor turned and hissed at Lilli, "Time to die!" He drew his own wicked hand cannon, a gun drawn by and firing bullets shaped like metal thorns. He fired with accuracy, but Lilli was quicker to avoid each bullet. She fired 5 more bullets at Yor, but even he was agile enough. The two Hunters dueled with their guns, each side evenly matched. Lilli then tossed a grenade at Yor, distracting him before she shot his shoulders and knees. "AAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGHHHH!!!" he screamed as he fell without function or grace.

Max was busy dodging Omnigul's deadly electrical spells, too occupied to cast his own. He then drew his rifle and shot at the Will of Crota, but missed her head every time. Then he thought, _The crystal! If I attack it, then this Wizard will make a mistake in rage!_ He shifted his focus and dashed to the soul gem, floating up to the recent gash, and shot into it. _Damn! It's not enough!_ He dodged another one of Omnigul's spells, making it hit the gash in the crystal. Crota's soul gem began to crack and creak, magical electricity crackling on the inside. "YOW!" Crota screamed from the crystal, "WATCH WHERE YOUR AIMING, WITCH!"

"Sorry, my lord. The Warlock-" Before she could finish, Max threw another Nova Bomb at the crystal, its hard exterior fractured upon impact and fell away.

The Hive Prince growled, "OMNIGUL! KILL HIM!" She tried, but Max fired another Nova Bomb at the crystal, shattering it. Crota howled, "NEVER SEND A WITCH OR A HUNTER TO DO A PRINCE'S JOB!" He attacked Omnigul with the crystal shards, she screamed for unattainable mercy as she died, the Dark Hunter also screamed as the shards tore through him, ringed around the Chamber, then dispersed into Leviathan and his Auto Rifle, filling the holes in the rifle and Exo. Leviathan screamed in agony, then howled and fell limp. Silence followed, long silence followed. 

Max stood for a while, processing all that just happened, _How did that happen? Just how!?_

Lilli shouted, "Leviathan!" No response. "LEVIATHAN!" Still no response.

Then the Warlock remembered the Titan, _Leviathan! We need to save him!_ He ran up to the sacrificial post and tried to bring it down, flailing his legs in the process. The Hunter ran to meet him, firing bullets and throwing knives at the Titan's bonds, breaking them. Leviathan fell without consciousness, feet first on the ledge, then down to the ground, leading with his head. The metal cranium fractured, Lilli hopped down to the ground, inspecting the Titan. Max took a good look at Leviathan's acidic rifle, now glowing with an eerie green light. "Strange," he said, "Why would Crota attack his minions, Leviathan, and this rifle?"

"What rifle?" Lilli asked, "The one Leviathan threatened us with?"

"Yeah."

"Wasn't that left on Earth?"

"Apparently not." Max touched the rifle, then the room changed. He fell back, scared of his surroundings. He saw the same images again, but not as the viewer; this time, he was IN the image, standing on the desolate Earth. The Warlock looked around, "Lilli!? Hello!?"

A dusty figure walked forward, his features became more defined with each incoming step. "Why did you betray us?" the figure asked in a raspy voice, "Why did you do this?"

Max was confused, "Do what?"

The figure was now in full view, he was taller than Max, bald, white, and his face had 2 long diagonal scars from top to bottom, one for each eye. "You betrayed us!" he shouted, wrapping his hands around Max's neck, "You killed us!"

Max screamed and fell, reality returning to normal. Lilli held him from the ground, "Max, are you alright?"

He panted, "Did you see that!?"

"See what?"

Max stammered, "A scarred man! He...h-h-he..."

"Max, it's ok. It was all a vision."

Then he realized, "The rifle! Crota's soul attacked it, right?"

Lilli looked confused, "Yes? Why is this important?"

"Because the Hive feed off of hope, leaving only sorrow and despair," He pointed to the rifle, "First the Sword, and now the auto rifle, both gave me apocalyptic images...."

Lilli nervously laughed, "Ok, now you're freaking me out."

"...but when Leviathan wielded the rifle, it only amplified his hatred for the Fallen and us. And you still have Sword Core, but feel nothing different."

"So, what you're saying is?"

"These weapons are fueling negative emotions, especially among Ghouls!"

Lilli's eyes widened, "Oh! That might explain the Dark Hunter's thorny hand cannon!"

"We need to get Leviathan and the guns back to the City, keep them under lock and key. Eris needs to know this."

* * *

Crota laughed from inside his Throne world, "Now, I wait for phase 2!"


	11. The Academics of Fear

Leviathan was taken to the infirmary wing of the Tower, still unconscious as the crystal shards are being removed from his body. Lilli stood by Max as they watched from a distance, "I just talked with Eris."

The Warlock turned to her, curiosity gleaming in his eyes, "And what did she say?"

"She's using the sword core as we speak, and I am supposed to keep this Thorn. For what sane reason, I don't know."

Max shook, "Neither do I." He paused then asked, "How weirdly was I acting on the Moon?"

Lilli raised an eyebrow, "Self-conscious, are we?"

"N-no," the Warlock shook, "m-maybe... but I can't help feeling like I knew those images, as if they are a part of me."

The Hunter eyed him, "Do you think that it's a part of your past?"

"Or future?" he added.

"Why do you think the Sword of Crota would give you images of the future?"

Max shrugged, "It's what the Hive want, right? Total destruction until only they remain?"

Lilli raised an eyebrow, "Has Eris finally-"

"Lilli!" a familiar voice shouted across the room, "How's my favorite Hunter, eh?"

Max and Lilli spun around to find Cayde-6 coming towards them, arms open wide. Lilli smirked, "Hey, Cayde! Vanguard treating you well?"

Cayde looked up and pressed his hands to his hips, chuckling, "Ah, well, no... You see, they're talking about a demotion today."

"A demotion?" Max asked, "Who?"

Cayde looked down, "I can't say, I don't want to think about it."

Max took a minute to digest the information, then he too realized, "Lilli?"

Cayde nodded. Lilli asked, "Why me!?"

The Hunter Vanguard ushered Max and Lilli out of the Infirmary, "Zavala believes that you're too reckless for a Recruit."

Lilli grew stiff, "Reckless!?"

Max was confused, "Recruit? Is she a rookie like me?"

Cayde shook his head, "Nah, obviously not. She has field experience, but she isn't connected to the Traveler's Light like you or me. In other words, she can't use any powers, nor can she be resurrected willy-nilly."

Max's eyes widened at his partner, "You're-?"

She nodded, "Mortal? Yes, I am. But am I weak?" Lilli shook her head defiantly, "No, I am not!"

"I never assumed that you were."

"Neither do I," Cayde assured, "but Zavala says otherwise, and as much as Ikora, Alamo, and I disagree, Zavala has the Consensus on his side."

Lilli huffed, "Great...just great..."

Max just sighed, "So, I'm supposed to fight all on my own?"

Cayde shrugged, "I guess, but you don't necessarily have to."

The Warlock looked confused, "I beg your pardon, but what does that mean?"

The Hunter Vanguard pulled Max and Lilli aside and whispered, "Gabriella is recovering from her mortal injuries on the Moon."

"So?" Lilli whispered back, "She's still Leviathan's Ghost!"

"Not anymore, the Hive rituals have disconnected her from that douche of a Titan."

Lilli silently grinned. Max asked Cayde, "So, you're mentioning this for a reason, right?"

He nodded, "I'm saying that Lilli could use the Ghost to disguise her status."

She shook her head, "It won't work."

"Why not?" Max asked.

"Zavala, he has scouts on every planet to record our movements, and he's already seen me leave the Moon alive, a without a Ghost to boot. If they see me out there with a Ghost, he'll ask one too many questions about me, Leviathan, and what happened on the Moon. Then he'll fabricate some story about me as a traitor and sentence me to death!"

Max laughed, "Ok, now that's crazy."

"Really, Warlock?" She inched closer and closer to him, "Tell me, how does this City work?"

He paused, then heaved, "I don't know, but I would think it should work for the people."

Lilli shook again, "The reality is farther from the truth," she ushered him to a window, "Look out there, and tell me what you see."

Max took in the view of the City. He saw the City's wall, the Traveler, and the 7 different sectors of the City, one of which was decimated 5 years prior, and one was located in the center, with some shaped building right underneath the Traveler. Despite the looks of prosperity in 6 of 7 sectors, the center one was the most advanced in the whole City, comparable only to the Guardians' Tower. He stared at the center sector and said, "That building, what is it?"

Lilli smirked, "I'm glad you asked. That's the Consensus, where they eat, sleep, and work. Every law the City upholds is made there, most of which are corrupt, just as corrupt as the ones who made them. New Monarchy is always looking to replace the current system with a single powerful figure, Dead Orbit focuses on nothing but leaving Earth, and Future War Cult is just that, a cult."

Max shrugged, "Doesn't sound corrupt to me."

"No? How about this: New Monarchy is staining the Consensus so much that they are so close to their goal; FWC poses as a threat to them, but all they do is rant about the wars ahead instead of combating the problems they face here and now; and Dead Orbit rarely shows up anymore. As a result, the rich are beginning to bribe officials to pass more laws that benefit them. Now tell me, how well is the City faring under their thumb?"

Max took a minute to digest the information, "oh...Oh! I see!"

Lilli nodded, "Zavala is a part of it, Leviathan is influenced by it, a few other Guardians are also influenced, we need to be careful."

Cayde lowered his head, "I see," then he perked up, "Welp, I better get back to my maps."

"One more thing, Cayde?" The Warlock asked.

Cayde turned around and said, "Sure."

"Where can I learn more about my visions?"

His eyes bulged, "Please don't ask that again!"

"Why not?"

"It's against Guardian policies! Zavala's predecessor decreed it, and the Commander is very strict." Cayde left without another word.

Max sighed, "What now?"

Lilli asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"I have this burning curiosity about my visions," he explained, "and it won't go away. They beckon to be unveiled as keys to the past and future, how to learn from history and prevent dark inferences. I need to know."

Lilli nodded, "I agree. But we can't unveil them here. But even if the Vanguard allows this, nothing on Earth can help us."

Max looked up at the sky and wondered, "How many other planets has the Traveler touched?"

Lilli answered with, "Well, the furthest it ever got was the moons of Jupiter, so at least 4 planets and a few moons."

"And do any of them have technology that can delve into the fabric of time?"

Lilli thought, "Off the top of my head, I think Venus." She corrected herself, "The Ishtar Academy and its archives could help you, but that's just speculation."

"Then let's go!"

"Wait!" Lilli said, "Venus is dangerous enough as it is, acid clouds be damned!"

Max raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

Lilli explained, "The reason why no Guardian has been to Venus in a long time is because of the Vex! After Skolas's defeat, they began flooding the planet's surface again!"

Venus, the second planet of the Sol system. It took 4 whole centuries before Humanity could colonize it and establish the Ishtar Academy, the largest university and one of Humanity's crown jewels in the Sol system, the other ones being Freehold and The Caloris Garden. Ishtar had everything Humanity could want and ask for from a university, that is until the Darkness came.

Now, Venus stands on the cusp between a shadow of its reformation, a step away from its acidic self, and becoming a future fortress of a robotic species known as the Vex. As far as the Guardians know, the Vex have been around since the Traveler first arrived, but some would argue that they came with the Darkness. Regardless of their past, Guardians know this about the present and their future here: the Vex cannot be easily removed.

Max and Lilli touched down on Venus's Shattered Coast, just outside the Academy. Max's Ghost spoke up, "Ok, I just looked up everything I know about the Vex: They're difficult to track and beat, but I can update my radar if I know what I'm looking for."

"How do you not know!?" Max asked exasperatingly.

"The Vex adapt to their surroundings, evolving to fit into different situations. In other words, they're very difficult to destroy."

Max and Lilli groaned, "great. just great." They moved into the Academy's largest hall, the Library, just opposite them and a golden statue, most likely resembling victory. Inside the Library, the walls and pillars were lined with old books and bookshelves, ancient relics covering everything from poetry to engineering, all towering over 3 stories tall. Foliage wormed around the uncovered ceiling and pillars toward the top, reinforcing the crumbling structure. In the center of the bottom floor was another golden personification of victory, holding a laurel high above her head, while wearing another one to keep her curly hair in a neat bun in the back, and 2 other ones to keep her toga set on her left shoulder and her waist. The statue outside was similar, but melted and broken in random areas. The library wasn't as large as the Warlock libraries in the City, but it was large enough for a college with dependence on electronics.

Max and Lilli stared at the library in awe, for neither of them had seen this many books before, let alone in an organized manner. But what really caught their eye wasn't the decrepit scenery, it was a towering square conflux standing in front of the statue, with glowing white wires making up the structure's latitudes and longitudes. Max and his Ghost examined the Conflux, "Fascinating," said the Ghost.

Max and Lilli eyed him, "What's fascinating?"

"This conflux," he explained, "It's simultaneously here and halfway across the galaxy! If I can just-" The Conflux sparked, then disappeared.

Lilli looked all around her, grey clouds were now surrounding the statue and flooding the upper floors. "Wait! What's happening!?" she asked.

"It's the Vex!" cried the Ghost, "They sense a disturbance! Find cover!" Max and Lilli found debris large enough to duck behind in the back of the library and hid.

10 Vex Goblins teleported out of nowhere into the library, their red eyes fixated on Max and Lilli's shadows. Their right arms rotated 360 degrees parallel to their bodies, their hands transformed into blasters capable of melting rock. The two Guardians waited for three seconds before jumping into battle. Lilli literally jumped up and fired her hand cannon at the Vex, but couldn't get a dent in them. The Goblins fired melting shots at her, only missing by a few centimeters behind her. Max arose from cover and fired at the Goblins' heads, aiming at their cyclops eyes, missing 7 times out of 10. For the three he hit, they were blinded and malfunctioning like crazy. Their chests opened up, revealing a glowing white tube of goo, trying to guide the broken and trigger-happy Goblins to the Guardians. Max shot these tubes, and the three Goblins exploded into parts. Lilli noticed this and adapted herself to this strategy, killing the rest.

More Goblins arrived, this time with their horned Hobgoblin equivalents; these Vex units were armed with sniper arms and radar modules in their horns, acting like secondary eyes to triangulate their targets. 2 Hobs locked onto Max and charged their snipers, Max fired into their eyes and shattered the glass protecting the sensors. The Hobs screamed and crouched into protective balls of solar energy, but their chests didn't open up. Max's eyes widened, _Uh oh! New strategy!_ He ducked behind cover and shouted through the comms, "Lilli!"

"I know! I know!" she shouted back, "I saw!" She fired 6 rounds at the Vex Goblins heads and exposed chests, killing them. The Hunter then ducked behind cover, throwing grenades at the Hobgoblins. The Hobgoblins' heads were blasted off by the ensuing explosion, causing their chests to finally open up. Lilli saw this opportunity to kill them off and finish the rest of the horde.

Just as the previous round of Vex were dispatched, the next round of 6 Goblins and 3 Hobgoblins spawned in, this time being led by a giant, muscular, shielded robot known as a Minotaur. This Vex unit was known for its built-in grenade launcher, lobbing small but powerful void balls at a target. Max threw a Vortex Grenade at the Goblins and Minotaur, 7 Goblins were sucked into the Void and destroyed, but the Minotaur and 2 Goblins locked their feet into the ground, stabbing the granite steps. Max closed the vortex and killed the 2 goblins before moving onto the Minotaur, trying to deplete its shields with bullets. Lilli jumped up and lobbed more grenades at the Minotaur, but they failed to drop its shields. Max hurled a Nova Bomb at the Minotaur, hoping to at least break down its force field, but failed once again. "It's not working! We need a new strategy!" Max shouted. The Minotaur tried for a close-range melee attack after teleporting a short distance, but Max's defensive palm struck the metal of the chest, forcing it to cave in on the liquid inside, causing the Minotaur to malfunction and fall to the ground, dying slowly. No more waves of Vex spawned after that.

Max stared at the Minotaur's corpse, "What kind of machine does this?"

Suddenly, the Minotaur's open hand grabbed Max's neck and squeezed. A female Exo appeared out of nowhere and said, "Stand still!" Max turned his head to find her aiming a gun in his direction. He bulged, then closed his eyes just as quickly as she pulled the trigger. 3 bullets were fired, though he didn't feel anything aside from the Minotaur's grasp loosening. He opened his eyes once again to find the Minotaur, finally dead, with 3 bullets in its skull, white liquid spilling from the holes and onto the floor. Max straightened himself, but the Exo quickly pulled him back, then lit the liquid on fire. "There, it's safe now."

Max jumped back, away from her, and frantically asked, "Who are you, and how do you know so much about the Vex!?"

The female Exo shook her head, "I don't have time to explain why I don't have to explain."

"Well you have enough time to say that! So explain!"

She sighed, "I am a nobody, at least to your City."

"How so?"

"I can't explain."

The Hunter sighed, "Ok, how about the Vex? Can you explain them?"

The Exo shook her head, "I can't. All I know is that they adapt and predict their environments. Even a dead Vex is useful for their data."

"So why the different types?" Lilli asked, "Why escalate the battlefield so quickly!?"

The Exo looked at Lilli and said, "Because of you. Well, more specifically, him." 

"Me?" Max asked, "Why me?"

The Exo rolled her eyes, "Because you're a Ghoul, a Guardian who has experienced death at least once, and cannot permanently die."

"Ok, sure. But why me? Why not her as well?"

"Because she isn't connected to the Traveler, yet." 

"So, Vex can't predict Light? Then why wasn't she killed just now!?"

The Exo stared at Lilli for a while and said, "I don't know... But I do know this, Maxwell Prodigy: The Vex fear you and another person above all others. They saw a prophecy about a Warlock and a being known as the World-Breaker."

Max stared into the Exo's eyes with curiosity, "What prophecy?"

The Exo recited...

_A fire born from the Ancient Times,_   
_A destiny quelled by the strongest fear._   
_Two minds born due to political crimes,_   
_Two lives were bred to be the other's peer._   
_Fear one, for they cast the people to raze,_   
_Fear the other, for they break and set norms._   
_The World-Breaker's march set the skies ablaze,_   
_The tune of the Warlock calmed the heavy storms._   
_Both will die by the other's hand before,_   
_Both will rise by a mighty god's powers._   
_Deities fall under the Warlock's score,_   
_World-Breaker charges, the City cowers._   
_So face thy enemy, confront your foe,_   
_Or send the Universe to forever woe._

Max stepped back, eyes wide open. "That...is my prophecy!?"

The Exo nodded, "I'm afraid so."

Lilli cleared her throat, "So, about the Vex. How do we stop them?"

The Exo turned, "You can't." Lilli slumped until the stranger said, "But you can stall them."

"How?" The Hunter was desperate for answers.

"Find the Black Garden and rip out its heart. Only then will your path present itself."

"And how do we do that!?"

The Exo turned away and immediately said, "I'm returning, how many are there?" Silence. "Hold positions, kill the engines, and don't let them find you." And just like that, she was gone.

Lilli and Max stared at where the Exo used to be, then at each other, "Now what?"

Max's Ghost said, "The only way to get to the Black Garden is to see the Awoken, out on the edge of the Asteroid Reef."

"Great!" said Max, "Let's go!"

"No! You don't understand! The Awoken live in the Reef for one reason alone: The Awoken stand on a knife's edge between the Light and the Dark!"

* * *

_4 centuries ago..._

Crota landed on the other side of his portal, head first. He lifted his head to find himself inside a maze rectangular metal tunnels, comprised of iron, brass, and titanium. The Hive Prince didn't know where he was, or how to get home. He looked around, viewing the 4-way node that he was standing in, confused about where to go, where to begin. The air had a different smell than that of a Throne World; ferric and sometimes rusty odors compared to musky smells of marrow and death. He smelt the air one more time. _What is that smell?_ he thought. Crota picked up his sword from the ground, walked to his left, and walked into the tunnel on his left. _This is too easy. Father, I will prove you wrong._ He followed the scent, unaware of what lurked in these tunnels. 

As soon as Crota reached another node, 3 white Vex Goblins were approaching from the right side. He ducked into the way he came in. They walked down the tunnel, and passed through the node, failing to detect a green Hive Prince roaming the halls. Crota crept up from behind, then took all three of them down with one stroke of his sword. The alarms blared, more white Goblins descended upon Crota. He readied his sword and began to cut through the waves of Vex. The Goblins fired back, burning a few tiny holes into the Hive Prince. Crota roared in pain, then charged towards the other side, destroying Goblins as he went. He ran down another hall, turned left at the next node, then right, straight ahead, and another left. 

At the end of the road, he nearly missed falling down, and into the planet's hot core. He looked up and saw the same metal on the ceiling. _WHERE AM I!?_ Goblins and Hobgoblins cornered the Son of Oryx, waiting to capture him. Crota stretched his left hand and shot a few bolts of Darkness at the Vex soldiers. He ran down another path, mowing down two dozen Harpies and dismantling a few Minotaurs that charged toward him. More Minotaurs ran into the scene, twice than before. Crota sliced through each one, and ran down another corridor, into another node. After running into a Hydra that blocked a tunnel, he tried to slice through its shield matrix, but was thrown backward after failing to do so. Three more Hydras surrounded Crota from the other three hallways and captured him by setting up a translucent sphere made of matrices of code. The Hive Prince was immobilized and carried away by the Hydras.

They brought him to a large, triangular chamber, with an arch made of glass on the side opposite to the door, and a gigantic Hydra that barely floated above the ground. Its appearance was analytical and demonic at the same time: rounded armor with six large, devilish horns that resembled a crown, with three horns on each side, and a dark crimson, triangular eye. The detainment dissolved, and The Hydra looked at Crota as he dropped to the floor. When the Hydra spoke, it spoke in the Hive's tongue, with a sharp, nasty, and calculating voice. "Crota, Son of Oryx, the Hive Prince himself. It is an honor to have you here in my court. I am Xylar, the Timeless, Overlord of the Vex."

Crota rose to his feet, noticing the faint smell of something putrid, something like melted flesh. He stared at the Vex Overlord. "I was exiled from my world, left to die in this forsaken place. Then, I was almost gunned down by your soldiers, almost cornered into a lava core, and then forced to kneel before a tyrant I barely understand."

Xylar floated to the Hive Prince. "Apologies for your capture and for wrecking your father's Throne World, but we needed to understand what made you so powerful. Quria was one of the finest Minds I had, so I sent him to learn your Sword-Logic. For him to be imprisoned by your father, and then given to your aunt," he paused for a moment, "I guess you could say that I need some leverage: you."

Crota laughed, "Savathun wouldn't let one of her victims go, even if you had a bargaining chip. Besides, Oryx is the one who exiled me."

Xylar looked down and away. "I'm sorry."

Crota added, "He told me that I had to come back victorious, or not at all."

"And so the truth comes out." He began to hover around the Son of Oryx. "What if I told you that you could go home?"

"I'm listening."

"You would return, with the head of one of my Hydras and your own Throne World, as tokens of your 'victory'. All that we ask in return is an experiment."

"An experiment?"

"Of a hybrid. Imagine, the strength of the Hive combined with the intelligence of the Vex, your Sword-Logic without the worms. Together, we would be unstoppable."

Crota murmured, "You must be joking," then he raised his voice, "I will never trust my enemy, even if we faced the end of all our days!"

Xylar quickly flew to Crota's eye level and stared at him in the eye. "Do you think that I can be broken by such pride? Do you think that I had an alternate plan?" The Hydras formed the detainment around Crota. Xylar continued, "Remain here and rot if you wish. I am very patient. I can wait." The detainment paralyzed the Prince, and he collapsed.


	12. A Hazardous Deal

Once a lifeless asteroid belt, The Asteroid Reef is now a faucet to a bathtub of power. Both leftover Light and Darkness sit stranded here, meaningless, formless, without a host. The remnants, however, mingled and intertwined with each other, lightly enveloping whatever strayed into the reef unprotected with a delicate touch. Those that embodied these remnants became Awoken, ascendant beings that only got a touch of the power of the Universe, beings that held a balance in their hearts and minds, and thought themselves beautiful beyond everyone else.

Max and Lilli flew into the Reef, unaware that 2 Crow ships were disguised among the rubble that later chased them down. "Intruder baring A-113, you are trespassing into the Realm of the Awoken and are marked for execution. State your business, or be destroyed in the name of Queen Mara Sov."

Max froze completely, cold sweat dripping from his face. Lilli could feel the tension and fear in the air, emanating from Max and, most of all, herself. She took a deep breath and said, "This is Lilliana Qu'lene, Bane of Wolves. My partner and I are seeking an audience with the Awoken."

A long period of silence followed. Max felt beads of fearful sweat drip down his face. "Conform to my trajectory," a Crow said, "Any deviation is an act of aggression." The Crows flew right beside Max and Lilli, guiding them to the Queen's palace, but they remained out of the Guardians' sight, ready to fire when necessary.

When Max and Lilli were escorted to the palace entrance, they were greeted by an Awoken male, his grey skin was comparable to a polished statue, his black hair was kept neat and tidy for all occasions, and his yellow eyes were like gold coins: beautiful from a distance, but held an unfathomable coldness when someone got too close. This Awoken ordered, "HALT!" to the Guardians.

Max froze, scared of this man before him. Lilli bowed slightly and said, "Prince Uldren, we request-"

Before she could finish, the Awoken Prince calmly said to Max, "Bow!"

Max was still frozen from fear.

"I said BOW!" Uldren kicked Max in the stomach, forcing him to recoil downwards, emitting a bow.

Max coughed, "Why?"

"Because I am the Prince, of course," Uldren said in a nasty, entitled voice, "And scum like you should always pay respects to your superiors."

"I serve the City, not you."

"And I see no reason to let you live, but here we are."

Lilli interrupted, still bowing, "Please Prince Uldren, we request the assistance of the Reef."

Uldren chuckled harshly, "I like it when people beg us for help or mercy. It means they are helpless!"

Lilli gritted her teeth, "What do you know of the Black Garden?"

"Nothing that you don't know, not like you need help."

"ULDREN!" another Awoken shouted, this one was female, had neon blue skin and eyes, and her braided pink hair was tied in a bun on her left side. "Let them pass! The Queen has granted their request for an audience!"

"And I'm here to make sure that they're not assassins."

"You were actively harassing them!"

"I'm in no mood to be lectured by commoners, least of all you, Petra Venj!"

"I am no ordinary commoner, I'm the Queen's Wrath! I have more authority than you, and I demand you to release the Guardians into my custody!"

The Prince scowled, "fine!" He tossed Max and Lilli over to Petra.

Petra thanked him and escorted Max and Lilli into the Queen's Chamber. It was mostly spacious, decorated with banners of magenta, white, and gold describing the Royal Sigil. The Awoken Throne sat in the center of the Chamber, with only a metal plank leading to the Throne as the only passage. Sitting on the adorned, regal throne was the Queen herself, Mara Sov, similar to Uldren, except she had dull blue skin, neon blue eyes, thick blond hair drawn in small spikes, and she wore regal clothing with a furry coat. "Apologies for my brother," she said in a dull, but powerful voice, "He can be quite harsh. Now, what is it you want?"

Lilli bowed before the Queen as soon as she approached the Throne, "Your majesty, we seek the Black Garden." Max learned his lesson from before and bowed as well.

Mara stared at the Guardians, "What for? Your Traveler is healthy."

Lilli nudged Max, "Tell her!"

Max, still bowing, declared, "Your majesty, we want to stop the Vex."

The Queen raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Because they're flooding Venus, and if we don't stop them-"

"Why not just let them? You Guardians have enough on your plate as it is." She paused, then asked, "Unless there's something else?"

Max gulped, "Your majesty...I had a vision."

Mara was intrigued, "A vision? Of what?"

Max froze in fear, _Should I tell her?_ He took a deep breath and said, "Death and destruction. I saw the end of the world."

"And you think the Black Garden can help you?"

Max shuttered, "I don't know, but if this is a vision of the future, I want to know how to prevent it."

Mara shook her head, "I believed the same thing once, it cost my people's lives and my pride." She never left her throne, "I saw a vision of near extinction from the House of Wolves, so I showed them kindness, I gave them a home. They responded with murder, betrayal."

Max blinked, "So... don't repeat your mistake? We know the Fallen are vagabonds."

Mara shook her head again, "I'm saying that visions are dangerous. If you try to prevent them, you may end up causing them."

Lilli cleared her throat, "So are you going to help us or not!?"

"I can't..."

Lilli slumped.

"...not yet, anyway."

Lilli rose up, "What do you mean?"

"To access the Garden, you need to bring me a Vex Gate Lord's head."

Lilli laughed, "You're kidding!" The Queen never smiled or smirked at this. Lilli frowned, "Wait, you're serious!?" She flared up, "My sister and I went on your quest of retribution against the Wolves, massacred the lot of them, captured and disgraced their 'Kell of Kells', and we burned every last remnant of their House into ashes! And now, just for calling you up on a favor, you ask us to do one more deadly task!?"

"SILENCE, LILLI! IF THAT IS YOUR REAL NAME!"

Lilli immediately shuttered back into a bow, frozen in fear of the Awoken Queen.

"AS I RECALL, I NEVER GAVE YOU GUARDIANS A FAVOR FOR DOING MY BIDDING!" Her voice then descended into a powerful hiss, "And even if I did, you would still need a Gate Lord's head to find the Garden."

Max nodded, "Ok, so we find a Gate Lord, rip off its head, bring it back here, and then you'll tell us how to enter the Black Garden?"

Mara nodded, "Yes. Now go, before my brother throws you out."

The Guardians arose and turned to leave; Petra escorted them out. Minutes later, Uldren stepped in. Mara stared at the Prince, "What do you want, sister?"

"Watch the Warlock, Crow Leader. I want to know who he really is."


	13. The Machine Lords

Crota stared at his blade and his Oversoul, thinking about his past in the Vex Gate Network 4 centuries prior to the present day...

_Crota was dropped into a cell. He began to reach for his sword, until he realized that Xylar stole it from him. Curses! That damned Overlord robbed me! If he could wield that sword, then he would be able to invade the Throne Worlds at any given time!_

_At that moment, a neighboring voice said, "Unlimited power, eh? That's what your sword contains?" The voice laughed, "You should've thought twice about attacking the Vex, Crota, Son of Oryx."_

_The Hive Prince turned to the origin of the voice, realizing that it was a large Hydra, covered with moss and vines, giving it the appearance of an elderly person. The wisdom that it carried made his voice sound harsh, yet calm. This Mind had a purpose, and Crota was about to find out what it was. "And you are?" he asked, returning the tone._

_"I have no name or title other than Undying. You, on the other hand, have been known as the Bane of Worlds, Annihilator of Light, and Eater of Hope."_

_"Just skip to the end," quipped the Hive Prince._

_"I have no purpose other than building worlds for my kin," the Undying Mind continued, "What made me dangerous to Xylar was my rebellion against him."_

_Crota asked, "So, you're not going to torture me?"_

_The Mind laughed, "Torture you? I didn't think it was possible." He burst out laughing so much that he almost detonated himself and the wall. "You're the Hive Prince, the very sword of your father, and you're saying that someone has tortured you?"_

_Crota maintained a firm tone, "Xylar, Oryx, Savathun, Ir Halak, and Ir Anuk. The world is against me."_

_The Undying Mind's expression transformed from light-hearted comedic relief, into a dark seriousness. "I'm sorry."_

_Oryx's son waved his arm in reassurance, saying, "It's alright."_

_The Undying Mind floated close to the cell wall and revealed his set of scars. Each wound that punctured his metal frame was unique in size and in shape, and each one held a different charge, a different purpose. "You and I are alike in certain ways, we are disgraced by our masters, we've been punished by our kin, and we long for our own places to call home." Crota nodded. He understood what the Mind was saying, but he still didn't trust him. The Hydra then said, "In response to your earlier comment, I can help you escape."_

_Crota began to stare at the Undying Mind with a confused, yet challenging look. "Go on."_

_"It's very simple, this plan of ours. I can transport us out of these cells so that you can retrieve your sword. Once you have it, we will leave this planet for good."_

_Crota argued, "How do I know that you won't betray me?"_

_"Trust me on this."_

_Crota swallowed his pride. "Alright then." But I still don't trust you completely. He blinked his three eyes, and when he opened them, Crota realized that he and the Mind were on the other side of the cells._

_"Now," continued the Mind, "To find your sword." They rushed down the left side of the small hall, running through tunnels and nodes, hoping that they wouldn't be caught. While hiding in the shadows, Crota saw a few Goblins and began to rush towards them. The Undying Mind held him back. "Wait," he whispered._

_"Why?" hissed the Hive Prince, "I need to kill them, I need to regain my father's favor."_

_"And you will. But barging in will only get you imprisoned again, or worse, killed."_

_Crota groaned quietly. The Undying Mind sneaked to the right side, while the guards came from the left and moved to the hallway opposite the one the ex-prisoners stood in. They crept through the passageways, with Crota watching the back and the Mind leading the charge._

_After 30 minutes and 10 close-calls, the duo arrived back in Xylar's throne room. Hanging on a wall, inside of a programmable throne case, was Crota's sword. The Undying Mind took one good look at the encased sword, and said, "It will take me awhile to hack into the network in order to disable the security."_

_"Why?" protested the Hive Prince._

_"Because we don't want to be-"_

_Crota anxiously tore through the case and grabbed his sword. The alarms blared again._

_"-CAUGHT!" finished the Hydra. "YOU HAVE BROUGHT US TO RUIN, BUMBLING OAF!"_

_"What ruin?" retaliated Crota, "It's just noise anyway."_

_Xylar teleported himself to his throne. He taunted, "I'm impressed, Crota. For a while, I wondered if you were ever coming for your sword."_

_"Why couldn't you let me go?"_

_"Because you trespassed in MY territory."_

_Crota raised his voice, "I was left to die."_

_"And by your Sword-Logic, you should have."_

_"You know NOTHING about us."_

_"On the contrary, your time here has taught us everything about the Hive."_

_Crota raised an eyebrow. "And?"_

_"You're brutish, dull, and explosive. You guys get carried away, easily. You have no sense of true purpose in this universe."_

_Crota rushed for The Timeless, but when he struck, Xylar warped himself across the room, and Crota landed on the floor. The Undying Mind rushed to the Prince's side, grabbed his sword using telekinesis, and swung it vertically, creating a portal. The mossy Hydra knocked out and scooped up the Son of Oryx with one of its three shield matrices, dragged him through, and sealed the wound in the fabric of space._

His eyes focused back on reality, _Time to bring Leviathan back to life._ He twirled his sword in the air with dark magic, chanting loudly as he took the hilt and stabbed the Sword into the ground. The runes of his world lit up, the Oversoul glowed and pulsed a deep and bright green, then it screamed in a high-pitch before falling silent again.

* * *

Leviathan woke up from his coma, looking at the green crystals embedded in his body. _Wait! Where are the others!?_ He then turned to look at the shards in the jar, _Ah, there they are._ Leviathan opened the jar and took the shards in his hand. The shards formed a sword similar to Crota's, except this sword was ethereal. The Titan stared at the sword, hypnotized by its luster and its power. _I will reap this City, master._ Suddenly, he heard footsteps from 50 meters away. The sword fell back into shards and Leviathan placed them back in the jar before tucking himself back into bed, making it appear as if he never woke up.

A doctor entered the room and examined Leviathan. "Day 3: Subject 3529 is still in a coma," she said into a recorder, "Beginning to remove the rest of the crystal shards now." She took a pair of pliers and dove into his chest. Leviathan grabbed her neck, ripping her spine from her body. The bloodied corpse fell to the ground. Leviathan took the shards in the jar then placed them in his right arm; the shards in his body went to his left arm. From these shards, two swords could be summoned at will, for melee or throwing attacks. Leviathan took the doctor's scrubs off of her corpse, wore them, and stuffed her body under the covers with her spine. As he left the room and closed the door, a nurse came by and said, "Good morning, Dr. Harko!"

Leviathan simply nodded and smiled before leaving in the opposite direction. He took a quick look at the map in the hallway, before walking to the elevator. Another nurse said, "Hold that door open! I'm going down!" Leviathan reluctantly held the door open for the nurse before going down to the ground floor. "Lovely day isn't it, Dr. Harko?"

Leviathan nodded.

"3 code blues and it's not even lunchtime," The nurse looked at his watch, "And I'm due in the X-ray room in 15 minutes! Could you please send these forms to Dr. Bray for me?" The nurse handed Leviathan the papers and said, "Thanks, Dr. Harko! You're a lifesaver! Even your thesis says so!" The elevator doors opened to the 2nd floor and Leviathan exited to find the lobby. He took a quick look at the forms, _Head wounds, comas, code blues, pffft. I say DNR._ He tossed the forms into the garbage along with his scrubs, then lured, killed, and stripped a janitor, giving him the perfect disguise to walk out undetected. _Master, thy will be done!_

* * *

Max and Lilli landed back on Venus, searching high and low for something to be considered a Vex Gate Lord. They stormed the bowels of the Ishtar Academy, tore up the Vex inside their Citadel, and even killed a bunch of Vex in the Waking Ruins. Nothing warranted a Gate Lord to pop out of the Vex Gate System. Lilli sighed, "Ugh! Let's face it, Max! We're not going to find a Gate Lord like this!"

Max surmised, "If we haven't killed one, we must've angered one by now."

The Hunter shook, "We couldn't! The Vex are always replacing and increasing their numbers by the minute!"

Max nodded lowly, "yeah, that's true." He thought about their next plan carefully, then asked, "What about a bigger Vex?"

"A bigger Vex?" Lilli asked, "Just how big!?"

"I don't know, something absolutely big and important." Max snapped his fingers, a lightbulb lit up inside his head, "The Academy! Remember how we felt strange quakes there?"

"Yeah?"

"What if a Vex Mind is doing that? We could kill that, rip out its brain, present it to a large enough gate as bait, lure out the Gate Lord, kill it, and present its head to the Queen?"

Lilli pondered about it, then said, "Hmm, it might work."

Off in the distance, surveying the two Guardians in the Waking Ruins, stood a Titan in mysterious Vex plating, who disappeared just as he spontaneously appeared.

Max and Lilli descended from the Academy's interior hallways to a Vex architecture that tunneled through the Venetian crust. The architecture also winded down a few hallways of its own, before reaching a massive cylindrical chamber made of a dark jet grey metal and pulsing white lasers in select alcoves and ledges. One laser didn't follow the rules of its kind, and that was the large one in the center. As soon as Max and Lilli touched down, a hissing robotic voice said, "Ah, guests! In my Nexus! Welcome!"

Lilli asked, "Your Nexus? Who are you?"

"I am known by many names, across many minds, or just one if that's your thought process."

Max inferred, "A hive mind?"

"Yes, and no. I am one mind, of one clarity, but I have multiple bodies, multiple frames."

"Yeah, but what is your name!?" Lilli asked again.

"I'm not obligated to tell anyone what my real name is, 'Lilliana Qu'lene', unless you want me to reveal yours to your boyfriend."

"BOYFRIEND!?" Max and Lilli shouted at the same time.

"Oops, my bad. We're not there yet."

Max was getting a little impatient, "Look, Mr. Vex Overmind, we're in dire need of a Gate Lord-"

"-to get into my Black Garden, right?"

The Guardians were stunned, "How did-"

"You still don't know about my true power? Imbecility of the Guardians!" The Vex Overmind said to itself, "Let's just say that my inferences become your reality. And I infer your extermination!" A rather wide floating Vex with a central metal spine dropped from the ceiling, forming a large chassis, a Vex Hydra.

Lilli grabbed a stunned Max and ran for cover, "MOVE!"

The Hydra blasted large Void bombs at the Guardians, first missing, then anticipating their next move. Max was hit once, knocking him out of his daze. "OW! That hurt! A lot!"

"Get used to it," Lilli snapped, "We're Guardians!"

"No, you don't understand. Fallen and Hive projectiles don't hurt this much, but one of those bombs..." he pointed to a hole torn through his stomach, "...yeah."

Lilli stared at the hole and screamed, "Oh my Traveler! Forget the bombs tearing through your stomach, you're barely bleeding!"

"I'm what!?" Max took another look at his fresh wound, clean of any blood whatsoever. His eyes widened, "What the Hellmouth am I made of!?"

The Hunter shook her head, "I don't know! But forget your wound for now, we need to deal with this Hydra!" She fired a few rounds of her own hand cannon into the Hydra's single eye. The Hydra retaliated with 5 void bombs shot into Lilli's direction. She dodged just in time. "Max, can you move?"

The Warlock tried to get up, but groaned, "UNH! No! Not entirely!"

"Ok, just lob grenades at that machine, and move past your pain one step at a time."

Max crawled toward an opening in the raised cover and threw a Vortex Grenade at the Vex, following it with 10 scout rifle rounds into the chassis. Nothing could damage the Hydra. Max crawled back into cover and said, "Nothing's working! This thing is invincible!"

Just then, another Guardian from above the cylindrical Nexus shouted, "GERONIMO!" and smashed her whole body into the Hydra's thick skull, Arc Light coursing through her body in one giant Fist of Havoc.

The Hydra was crushed from the immense force, almost flattened. "U-U-UN-UNFORES-SEEN VARIANT D-D-DETected-" The Hydra's processor died, and the shell with it. The Titan wasted no time in opening the metal skull and igniting the radiolarian fluid inside.

Max tended to his wound, "Thanks, whoever you are."

"Cassandra Velnag, Captain of the Firebreak Order. Commander Zavala sent me here for you."

Lilli was curious, "What for?"

"He saw you move against his orders on the Moon, he recorded your conversation with the Queen of the Reef, and now you attempt to work your way through a Vex installation. 3 charges, one case: Betrayal of the City."

"But we-"

Cassandra continued, "And might I add, "Lilli Qu'lene", that you were demoted to a desk job, but now-"

Lilli interrupted furiously, "Desk job!?"

Cass payed no attention to the Hunter, "-you are stripped of your Guardian duties completely and are hereby under arrest!"

Max stepped forward, "Forgive me, Cass, but was Lilli formally demoted? Like, with a memo or notice?"

Cass didn't blink.

"Ok. How about the rule where Recruits are supposed to have at least one Ghoul accompanying them during their missions?"

Cass was taken aback, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Codex IV, Chapter 11, Section 5, 'No living Guardian Recruit is to be without a custodian Ghoul at any time outside City walls.' Did they teach you that?"

Cass looked at The Warlock confused, "no..."

"Also, Codex III, Chapter 1, Section 1, 'No Speaker, Vanguard Commander, or any other high ranking official has any authority to issue any unjust punishment.' Section 2 describes the punishment for such a case, do you want me to recite that, too?"

The Titan's brain spun laps inside her head as she groaned, "Ugh! No!"

"Then take these words back to Zavala, and these words alone: 'Don't touch my friend again, or else.'"

"Or else what?"

Max scoffed, "I don't know, maybe I'll expose his plans to rule the City with an iron fist."

Cass surprisingly took 3 steps back and spoke into her comms, "Commander, I lost them. I found their tracking beacons, but they just disappeared." Silence followed, "Understood, Commander. Moving to the Moon next." She turned off her comms before telling the Guardians, "You know what to do."

Max said, "Yes, but where are the beacons?"

"In your cloaks."

Max and Lilli searched their respective clothes until they finally found a small bump in their backs. "Oh..." the Warlock said, "um...can you help with my beacon?"

Lilli sighed, "Sure, so long as you'll help me with mine?"

"Yeah."

Just as Lilli surgically removed Max's beacon from his robes, a Vex shrill resonated in the room. "Oh no!" The Hunter exclaimed, "Quickly, do mine! Use my knife!"

"What!?" Max was shocked, "But I never-"

"Just do it!"

Without a second thought, Max grabbed the knife and punched it through the cloak, straight through the beacon. He heard a small crunch as the small electronic device was shattered, pieces falling out of the cloak and onto the floor. Max quickly crushed his own beacon and handed back the knife to Lilli. "Sorry!" he shrieked.

"No time for apologies!" The Titan shouted, "Go to the Ishtar Labs in the Waking Ruins, keep walking past it until you reach a large Vex gate! That's where your Gate Lord is! Now go!"

Lilli and Max rushed as quickly as they could to the labs, avoiding Vex, Fallen, even Guardians as they moved. When they finally reached the large gate, Lilli spotted masses of Goblins and Hobgoblins patrolling the tropical area around the large gate.

The Vex that were marching through the valley between the Ishtar Labs and the Vex gate, which sat on a large hill covered in Venetian flora and Vex stone architecture. Oddly enough, the Vex surrounding their gate were bowing in reverence.

Max asked, "Why would robots want to worship anything?"

Lilli shrugged, "I have no clue."

A Goblin began to approach the Guardians, curious as to what was on the hill opposite the gate. Max and Lilli hid out of sight of the Vex, careful not to make a sound. The Goblin inched closer to the Guardians, wary of its surroundings. Lilli prepared her hand cannon, Max grabbed a pebble and tossed it past the Goblin. The pebble bounced and skidded on the ground. The Goblin looked to where the pebble hit the ground, but didn't move. Instead, it scanned where it landed, then recreated its flight path from Max's hand. The Goblin screamed, Lilli stabbed it in the eye and shot 3 rounds into the radiolaria, destroying the Goblin.

The rest of the Vex stopped, and turned to Max and Lilli, angrily whirring in their direction. Max said, "You ready for this?"

Lilli laughed, "You know, I was going to say the same thing!" She jumped up and fired 4 rounds into the Goblins, killing them instantly. Max threw a Vortex Grenade at a batch of Hobgoblins, sucking all of the nearby Vex into another dimension. More Vex Goblins stepped out of the gate in rows of 7. Lilli met them with more lead bullets in their radiolarian cases. Hobgoblins also started to march out of the gate, only to be stopped by another Vortex Grenade.

Then it stopped. The gate stopped spitting out Vex drones entirely. Max and Lilli stared at the gate, waiting for their next challenge. Nothing happened. Max breathed a sigh of relief, "Well, that was breath-taking."

Lilli sighed, "Yeah it was, but where is that Gate Lord?"

The gate screamed and came to life again, this time issuing a two-story-tall Minotaur onto the hill. Max was shocked by the size of the Minotaur, "Is that our Gate Lord?!"

Lilli nodded, "Large and menacing, yep! That's the Gate Lord!"

The Gate Lord fired its dual Torch Hammers at the Guardians, Lilli and Max dodged the lobbed bombs before they hit the ground. "What's the plan!?" Max shouted over the gunfire.

"I don't have one yet!" Lilli shouted back.

Max fired at the Gate Lord with his scout rifle, before the Lord fired back at the rock which Max hid behind. "Well we need to find one quickly! I don't think we can last!"

"Just say it! I won't last against this!"

"I didn't say that!"

"But you thought it!"

"No, I said 'we', not 'you'! And I meant it too!"

"Why!?"

He jumped up from his rock and launched a Nova Bomb at the Gate Lord's chest, ripping through its chest, its radiolarian case, and tearing apart its limbs and severing the Gate Lord's head from its shoulders, bringing it crashing down to the ground. Max softly touched the ground and said, "Because I see you as a Guardian, pure and true. You've fought a Dark Hunter in the Chamber of Night and survived, you plowed through the largest number of Vex anyone has ever seen, and you helped me take down a Gate Lord! It isn't the Traveler's Light keeping you alive, nor is it mine; it's your skill."

"Wait," Lilli held up her hands, as if Max was talking too fast, "you don't see me as a burden?"

"Never," he affirmed, "You are strong enough without the Light, and Zavala be damned if he says otherwise."

Lilli nodded, "Ok." She walked over to the Gate Lord's pieces and asked, "Now, what to do with this head?"

"Let's ask the Queen." Max opened a comms channel to the Reef and said, "Capt. Petra Venj? Tell the Queen we have the head of a Gate Lord." There was a pause before Max said, "Your majesty? We have a Gate Lord's head. Now what?"

Queen Mara spoke through the comms, "Rip out its eye, that's your key to the Black Garden."

"Thank you, your majesty," then turned to the Hunter, "Lilli, we need the eye."

Lilli crouched and started pulling out wires and metal pieces with her hands and knife, until the eye just fell out of place.

Mara didn't hesitate before concluding, "I have shown you benevolence and helped you on your quest, Guardian. Should the Awoken ever need an ally, I will call on you and expect you to answer, indefinitely."

"I understand, your majesty."

Lilli took the eye and said, "Now where's the Black Garden?"

Max's Ghost perked, "Guys, there's a lot of weird Vex activity on Mars, specifically Meridian Bay."

Max asked, "And just how is that weird?"

The Ghost answered with, "There is almost nothing Vex related on Mars, which means two things. Either the Vex are starting to convert the planet, or..."

"...The Black Garden is on Mars," Lilli finished, "Great work, Ghost!"

* * *

Cassandra stood before Commander Zavala, her judgement filled the Vanguard room. Zavala squinted at Cass, "You lost her?"

Cass started, "Sir, they found their beacons and-"

"And I saw everything from here!" he barked, "Your beacon approached theirs, and then for some reason, they disappeared into thin air! Perhaps you can explain why that happened."

Cass placed the beacon pieces on the table, "I crushed them out of rage. That's why the blips disappeared. As for Lilliana and Max, they're in the wind."

"Find them!" he ordered, "Bring them to justice!"

"But sir, Lilli has proven herself to be stronger than most Recruits. Wouldn't it make sense to award her instead of punish her?"

"Need I remind you of her previous charges? She assaulted a Guardian while in the Tower, led unauthorized assaults on the House of Wolves, the Hive Fortress on the Moon, and now the Vex installations on Venus!"

"Sir, have you ever thought that she's trying to prove herself to you? To help you extend your authority?"

Zavala rose up and bellowed, "RECRUITS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO LEAD CHARGES! NOW GO OUT THERE, AND BRING HER BACK!"

Cass saluted, "Sir! Yes, sir!" and left the room. When she was clear of the Vanguard, she sighed, "Oh boy...how did I get myself into this mess?"

"Because you're a part of the Firebreak Order," said another voice. It was an Awoken Warlock with a similar skin color to Lilli's.

Cass turned to meet this Warlock, "Hey, darling! How's life?"

"Fine. How's my sister?"

Cass sighed, "Still on the run. Zavala is convinced that she needs protection."

Jess shook her head, "It's all because of Speaker Hedge. When Lilli and I graduated, he was so hard on her that she had to break the law in order to serve. It doesn't matter if she's strong, Zavala will always try to restrain her."

"Because she isn't a Ghoul like you or me," Cass finished.

"It's dumb, I know. But that's the City we live in."

Cass nodded, "So what now?"

Jess answered, "We go to Speaker Alamo."

Suddenly, the City alarms blared through the night. Cass asked, "What's going on?"

Jess answered with, "We're about to find out!"


	14. Military Occupation

The nurse entered the X-ray room and assisted the doctor there. Just then, the real Dr. Harko walks into the room, "Justin, can you deliver this diagnosis to Dr. Dimmesdale for me?"

"Sure, Dr. Harko. Did you deliver my forms to Dr. Bray?"

Harko looked confused, "What forms?"

"The forms I gave you in the elevator?"

Dr. Harko craned his neck, "What elevator?"

Justin widened his eyes, _shit!_ "The 5th floor! We need to find Leviathan!"

Dr. Harko and Justin rushed up the stairs to the fifth floor and barged into Leviathan's old room. Nothing looked different, except the sheet covered an entire body. Justin carefully walked in and removed the sheet from the bed. "Oh my Traveler!" He rushed to the bathroom just to throw up.

Dr. Harko-7 stared at the body with wide eyes, "That's Dr. Bray!" Justin was too busy vomiting at the sight of the bloodied naked corpse. Dr. Harko examined the corpse further, specifically at the neck. _Decapitated, the worst way to die._ He lifted the head just to see how bad her neck was cleaved, until he saw the spine still attached to her skull. _Oh Traveler!_ Justin came back into the room just to see the spine outside of the body, then rushed back into the bathroom to vomit. Dr. Harko lowered the spine into the body, "Justin, summon a stretcher and 3 other nurses, and get Dr. Bray into the morgue! I'll contact the Vanguard!"

Leviathan-3 lurked in the City alleys at night, listening to the telespeakers spitting out news of his escape. _I must warn Crota!_ The Rogue Titan produced a small hologram of Crota on his palm. "Master," he said, bowing, "I have escaped, but the Vanguard are searching for me. I need a more effective disguise."

"Patience, my Dredgen Bane. Your actions will be remembered as beneficial by many of your kind."

"I know I'll be a hero in the future, but what about now?"

"Disciple, not hero," Crota corrected, "As for your disguise, try to blend in. My powers are not enough to grant you this directly, but you can wipe their memories."

"How?"

"Plant a shard into their throat, and I will take care of the rest."

"I will do as you say."

"BUT!" Crota warned, "You can't hand out shards left and right. Conserve them, use them on stronger targets. Kill everyone else."

"Thy will be done, my lord."

* * *

Max and Lilli zoomed towards Mars in their Jumpship. While Max's Ghost was busy piloting, Max and Lilli sat across from each other, conversing about their plan to take the Black Garden by storm when they land. Max eyed the hand cannon made of thorns holstered parallel to Lilli's leg, "Say, did Eris ever tell you what to do next with that thing?"

The Hunter shook her head, "No, she didn't." She didn't mention anything about the whispers emanating from the weapon, nor did she mention what the whispers told her about the World-breaker. For all she knew, the whispers were getting louder and louder with each kill she made.

The ship beeped and the Ghost said, "We're here!" The three of them touched down on the surface of Mars, far enough so that no one would see them. Mars used to be a planet of financial prosperity, with the city of Freehold and the Clovis Bray corporation as its crown jewels. Now, it was just a red desert, with small rocks, large cliffs, dunes, and plateaus peeking through every once in awhile, all under the iron grip of a heavily militaristic race known as the Cabal.

"Well that's just great," Max's Ghost briefed the pair, "The Cabal have a lock on our orbital comms, which means we have no way of going back to our ship, summoning our Sparrows, or even contacting the Vanguard."

"So," Lilli said, "We'll break into one of their bunkers, disable their systems, and head over to the Black Garden."

The Ghost shook his head. "Have you ever tried breaking into a Cabal mainframe? It is covered in firewalls. No one can get past it."

"No one?" Max eyed suspiciously.

"Yeah, the last Guardians that were here barely survived the Cabal alone. They tripped the alarms looking for Golden Age tech, and almost died from a Sand Eater battalion. They only survived because they revived each other and refused to die permenantly."

"So don't trip any alarms? Got it!"

The Cabal build outposts out of a mixture of the plainest and most common alloys in the Universe. When mixed correctly, and under specific conditions, the new metal is strong enough to withstand 7 Hydrogen bombs. The outposts are plain and simple: large spaces for soldiers, equipment, and tanks. Their Firebases, on the other hand, are so huge that it takes up a square Megameter just for the stockpiles, and the other 999 to store equipment, tanks, dropships, and their troops. Within their forts, there are checkpoints at every gate, all run by a single computer.

After breaking into a nearby outpost and walking through a tunnel, the Guardians took a right and arrived in a large room with one terminal about 30 degrees to the left. "There!" Max declared, "We could-"

"Hack it?" Lilli scoffed, "Your Ghost already said it's too difficult!"

"And we'll get caught!" added the Ghost.

"Come on, guys!" The Warlock said, "We have to at least try."

Reluctantly, the Ghost floated over to the terminal, "Um, why won't you guys help me?"

Max and Lilli followed and began typing, while the Ghost scanned every line of code. Everything was going well, up until Lilli shouted, "SON OF A -! IT JUST ASKED FOR AN ACCESS KEY!" Then the alarms blared, and so too did the Cabal from all corners.

800 pounds, 7 feet tall, hulking frames, decked out on weapons and armor with jet packs, the Cabal blew up planets and moons just for getting in their way, if they were seen as worthless. A typical Cabal footsoldier is the Legionary, equipped with a traditional Slug Rifle. The Phalanx is like the Legionary, except that they held shields that could take an infinite amount of punishment, made from the same materials as their bases. Centurions are equipped with Projection Rifles that lob mini-missiles, and have a solar shield as a defense; Colossi are heavy hitters with heavy armor, their weapon of choice is the Heavy Slug Rifle, capable of firing 120 shots per minute. The only exceptions to the description were the Psions: small, hyper-intelligent, wielded Slug Rifles, and capable of throwing you into a wall with their minds.

20 Legionaries, 10 Phalanxes, and 5 Centurions hopped out of a dropship. The Hunter threw two of her traditional grenades at the cluster, killing the soldiers and leaving 4 Centurions still breathing. Max shot at their helmets, popping them off and exposing them to the fresh Martian air. Another ship, dropping twice as much as before. "Man alive!" Max said, "No wonder everyone was afraid of Mars. These guys just won't quit!"

"But neither will we!" said Lillianna, and she charged at the Cabal, jumping away from slug rifle bullets, firing back at the Legionaires, and stabbing every Phalanx that came from the second ship. After slicing, dicing, and shooting through her foes, another Cabal dropship came, carrying 4 times the amount of the first ship, and Max blew all of them away with one Nova Bomb. A Centurion, gasping for air from his helmet started moving towards his own Slug Rifle, until Lilli stabbed him in the neck and pickpocketed his keycard. She jammed it into the console and the alarms died. The Exclusion Zone was finally overridden.

"Phew!" The Warlock was relieved, "That was a close one! Let's go!" The Guardians pulled out their Sparrows, and raced each other through the valley, past the Scablands, and into Giant's Pass.

Another dropship came into the Pass, dropped 40 Psions, their Bracus, and left. The Psions, given their mental abilities, proved to be a greater challenge than we thought. We fired upon some of them, but they kept projecting their psionic blasts against us. "Ok," Max said, "Plan B?"

The Hunter shot down 10 Psions with her Hand Cannon, another 10 with her new Void-infused Sniper, and placed 3 Golden shots into the Bracus. Then she took the keycard, pointed to the dead Bracus, said, "That is Plan B!" and she rode off in her Sparrow. Max followed her to the Valley of the Kings

Valley of the Kings was enormous compared to the Barrens or Scablands. On the left was a large Vex gate shaped like a ring, standing on its own and backed by nothing at all. On the right was a Cabal watchtower, standing against a big alcove in the rock. Straight ahead was a path that led to a Cabal tank, parked into the rock. Lilli used the security card in the watchtower to access the Cabal's database. "Oookaayyy," she said, "This is bad."

Max asked, "What is it?"

"Well," Lilli continued, "the Gate is locked by a confluence trapped in Firebase Rubicon."

"And that's a problem because?"

"Rubicon is commanded by Primus Sha'aull, and overseen by Valus Ta'aurc. They are two of the toughest Cabal commanders in this system, the other three being Valui Mua'aul and Tlu'urn, and Primus Ta'aun on Phobos."

Max widened his eyes, "5 commanders in control of Mars, a Vex army brewing to convert this planet, and now we're on the run from our own City!? How can this day become any worse!?"

"Exactly!" Lilli exclaimed, "So why don't we make it a tad easier?" and she rushed off to the Cabal tank.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Max called after her.

On the inside, the tank could hold 2 battalions, but was mostly filled with tunnels. The only two rooms on the tank were the sleeping quarters for the soldiers, and the other was the Valus's office and bedroom. The pair powered through the Legionaries and Centurions, and reached the Valus's room, which was a huge room with lots of metal pillars, almost resembling a closed Roman Temple. The Valus was a huge Colossus, wearing the Siege Dancer banners on a 'T' shaped rod strapped to his back. He greeted his 'guests' with a Heavy Slug Rifle and a volley of missiles.

Max and Lilli immediately took cover, but the Valus wouldn't stop firing. Max ran from giant pillar to small cover, advancing himself until he could easily hit Ta'aurc with a Nova Bomb, denting his back armor. Ta'aurc retaliated with a volley of missiles at Max, killing him. Lilli quickly picked up his Ghost and revived him behind cover. Max shook off the confusion, "Oof! That really smarts!"

Legionaries came out of nowhere, and Lilli decided to throw everything she had on the Valus; grenades, knives, and bullets included. Max launched another Nova Bomb and Vortex Grenade, almost exhausting himself in the process. Lilli drew him back into cover before he could be killed again. Ta'aurc's Heavy Slug Rifle and missiles began to tear into the pillars, desperate to find a viable target. Then Lilli got an idea, "Max, how fast can you run?"

"Very. Why do you ask?"

"Because I want you to run from pillar to pillar, avoiding the gunfire."

Max eyed her suspiciously, "Why?"

"The only way to kill a tank is to bury it," and Lilli began to run away. Max ran in the opposite direction, each drawing the Valus's gunfire into the pillars. Ta'aurc growled in rage and launched 20 missiles at the Guardians, all 20 missed and hit the pillars instead. Lilli threw another hand-made grenade at the Valus, prompting him to destroy the pillar she hid behind, the last pillar in the room. The roof rumbled, she cried out, "RUN!" They ran as fast as they could, Lilli led the way out, Max lobbed Nova Bombs at the remaining supports in the tank, effectively and literally bringing the house down on top of Valus Ta'aurc.

Max and Lilli panted outside the ruined tank, "Phew! One Valus down, one Primus and one Vex Confluence to go."

* * *

Cayde stood over his maps, trying to look like he's planning another assault into the Cosmodrome. In reality, he was actually listening to his Ghost give her whispered report on Mars. "Cayde," Sundance informed, "Your protege and her partner have taken down the Cabal Exclusion Zone on Mars, and from Lilli's news, they've killed a Cabal Valus."

Cayde smirked, "Good job, Lilli! And thanks Sundance!"

"Just don't tell Zavala," she warned.

"Why would I?" Cayde returned to his maps contentedly. Zavala stared at him for a minute, suspicious of his whispering, then went back to his own plans. The Commander ordered, "Fireteam Arbiter, I'm authorizing you to go to Mars and take out the Psion Flayers."


	15. Garden of Darkness

An Exo Hunter stood outside the buried Clovis Bray building in the lost city of Freehold, his optics scanned the building for two things, the Psion Flayers, and a mysterious machine. It didn't take long to find the Flayers, but the machine was well-hidden. Jess and another Awoken Warlock walked behind the Exo, "Find anything Kaden?" Jess asked.

Kaden-2 turned around, then raised his hands up to his chest, waving them in certain patterns, conveying his thoughts. Kaden was the only Exo Guardian without a functional voice box, so he learned to use sign language. "The Flayers are at the pinnacle of the building," he signed, "If you hurry, you can catch them before they enter the Warmind's Cortex."

"And the machine?" the male Warlock asked, "Is it with the Flayers?" He was old, roughly in his 60's when he was resurrected, and by the tone in his voice, one could tell that he was impatient and analytical. Whoever he was in his old life, he certainly carried those traits over to his new one.

"I don't think so, Asher," Kaden signed in response, "Clovis was too smart and too clever to put his prized possession on display for the whole world to see, let alone at his tower's peak. To find the machine, we need to dig down."

Asher Mir understood, albeit grudgingly, "Fine...take me to it, and quickly! I need to document all the Golden Age artifacts for my book!"

Kaden slapped his head as he turned away, _It won't be that easy..._

* * *

Max and Lilli rode up to a giant spire known as the Vex Confluence in the heart of Firebase Rubicon, Gate Lord's eye in hand. "I hope this works," Lilli said. Their goal here was to charge the Gate Lord's eye, unlock the front doors to the Black Garden, then hope to make it to the heart. The Hunter placed the eye into the Confluence, then watched the spire come to life.

"I sure hope that's a good thing," Max said.

The Confluence hummed melodically as it disassembled itself from top to bottom in an orderly manner, the once interlocking blocks were now orbiting the spire, dissolving with every rotation. The Confluence's core was a rectangular prism the height of Max, glowing light blue. The Warlock was entranced by this, "It's so beautiful." He stepped closer and closer to the prism, Lilli warned him to stop, but it was all for naught. Max touched the prism, and lurched backward in pain, "UGH!" He removed his hand, but it was too late, his glove and palm had two long scratches cutting diagonally from his index finger to his wrist and from his pinky to his thumb, and the prism was gone. The scratches felt like a thorn slicing open the skin, and unlike the Void bombs that took Max's stomach, these scratches made him bleed. The Warlock stared at the large 'X' in his hand for a while, long enough to notice that he wasn't bleeding a typical human red, but rather a strange jet black substance with the same viscosity as blood. "What is this!?"

He didn't have long to think before the Cabal arrived. Leading the charge was an armored Centurion named Primus Sha'aull, the Cabal fanatic in charge of Firebase Rubicon. The Primus growled and fired mini-grenades at Max from his Projection Rifle. Max jumped and glided out of the way before the grenades hit him. Lilli fired multiple bullets in retaliation, but none could even pierce the armor. Sha'aull fired back, but the Hunter was faster at dodging. Minutes went by and nothing changed dramatically.

Max then saw how the Primus's armor was attached together, via buckles and clasps. He told the Hunter, "Lilli! Aim for the clasps in the armor!" Max threw a Vortex Grenade at the Primus and kept the Vortex open, hoping that Lilli would shoot the armor buckles in time.

She fired from her hand cannon, but managed to hit the clasps only 1 time out of 8. "No good!" she shook, "I need something with more accuracy! Something like your scout rifle!"

Max looked at the scout rifle, then at the distance between him and Lilli, then at the Vortex, assessing the situation. He quickly weaved around the Vex prism was, away from the Vortex, and handed the rifle to Lilli. "Thanks!" and she shot down all the clasps on the Primus's armor. The Vortex sucked all of it into the Void, and Max closed the Vortex then threw a Nova Bomb at the Primus to finish him off.

The Cabal Legionnaires that followed Sha'aull out of the Firebase barracks retaliated with their slug rifles, set to the 'rapid-fire mode', scaring Max and Lilli out of the Firebase and into the Valley of the Kings. Max merely had to present himself before the gate to activate it, thus sending him and Lilli into the Black Garden.

Of all the things that existed on Mars, the Black Garden was both beautiful and dangerous, both fantasy and reality. The Garden was lush with big and small green plants decorating the walls of the Vex architecture that made up everything from the floors to the walls and ceilings. Surprisingly enough, the Black Garden had it's own atmosphere of nitrogen and oxygen, making the place breathable for humans, but the lighting was eerily green, more so than the plants, and similar to Crota's soul gem.

Max and Lilli carefully walked through the hallway stemming from their entry into the Garden, looking out for any Vex frames. For a while, they found nothing new aside from randomly placed metal prongs poking out of the walls. Max turned the next corner and jumped back, a Vex Goblin was standing in the middle of the straight hallway, inactive and collecting dust. Max approached the Goblin again and poked it, nothing happened. "An inactive Vex?" He examined the radiolarian case, "Drained pod, but complete frame. Where did the milky stuff go?" Lilli advanced down the hallway to find more inactive Goblins, all with moss growing on the metal frames. Max joined her a while later saying, "Inactive, every last one. The question is 'Why?'"

As they walked further down the hallway, they reached a balcony that overlooked the entire landscape of the Garden, in all its grey and green beauty. "The Black Garden," Lilli was astonished, "I never thought that something so dark could be so beautiful."

"That's how the Darkness tempts you," Max's Ghost warned.

As they moved closer to the Black Garden's dark heart, Max and Lilli found more inactive Vex, Goblins, Hobgoblins, Minotaurs, the once floating triangular Harpies, and even the large Hydras, all dormant and empty. "Dead Vex in their Garden?" Lilli pondered, "I wonder who killed them like this."

Max felt his hand pulse loud if he approached a Vex frame. "They're not dead," he corrected, "They are empty." Then he widened his eyes, "They're empty! But not because someone drained them!"

Lilli looked confused, "What? How is that possible?"

Max proposed a question, "What if The Garden is waiting to activate them?"

"Ok, but how!?"

"Because the Garden is a Vex, or more accurately a part of the Vex, like these Goblins here."

Lilli widened her eyes, "So what you're saying is that the Vex are a collective of minds!?"

"No, I'm saying it's one mind spread across multiple frames, Goblins, the Hydra on Venus, the Garden! It's a hivemind!"

Lilli almost fainted, "We're standing inside of a Vex right now!?"

Max nodded. "We need to shut down the Garden before Mars gets converted!" The Guardians ran through open-roofed forums before reaching the locked door to the dark heart's chamber. Lilli looked at the door and said, "It's locked! There must be a key around here somewhere!"

The Vex Prism spawned in Max's scarred palm, a small prism that wasn't stained by Max's blood for some reason. He placed it down on a large square hole in front of the door, and the prism began to generate larger layers around itself, filling the hole. A small beam of light passed through the prism to hit the door's center, opening it to the chamber of the heart. Inside the semicircular chamber was the heart itself, a mechanically pulsing liquid sphere of Darkness, spreading its thin tendrils across the chamber. Surrounding the heart were 3 stone statues resembling Vex Minotaurs, and at least 100 Vex, all frozen in prayer before the heart. But when Max looked at the congregation, he saw something else. "Hive!? In the Vex Black Garden!? What they doing here!?"

The dark heart pulsed and boomed in a deep voice, "They're my guests, fellow worshippers in my temple."

"But why?"

"Because Crota and I have a deal. He gives me all the benefits of the Sword-Logic, and I give him the ability to see through Time. As a result, my Vex guard his Throne World, and his Hive guard my Garden..."

* * *

_Crota woke to mechanical enchanting in a sing-song voice, minutes after he was knocked out. The Hive Prince tried to stand up, but his head throbbed under the pressure of his past failures, each one heavier than the last: the first battle against the Eliksni, the prolonging war against the Cabal, the Vex flood, and now the retreat away from the Vex Overlord. One defeat alone is too many for me to bear. The Undying Mind was surrounded by a matrix, hovering above the darkened ground. The Hydra's enchantment started off soft, growing louder by the hour. Crota looked at the Undying Mind in the dark, or at least the outline of the giant Hydra. As the Mind's voice was raised in volume, the vast darkness began to grow some color, which blossomed from every corner of the map. The colors of the 'sky' were a mixture of blue and green, becoming bolder as the enchantment boomed throughout the whole place. The ground began to take shape as a semi-circular stone floor with hardened brass wires as a skeleton. Crota stood close to the left side, while the Mind was in the middle, above a brass circle smaller in comparison to the huge floor. A staircase formed on the end of the floor, opposite the Mind. Attached to the stairs was a circular door with metal threads and a dome on the side of the next room, away from the Mind. The Mind paused his enchantment, and said, "Yes, this shall be my altar. This is my home." The Mind continued enchanting in the tongue of the Vex._

_Home, Crota thought, is dimensions away. Home is what I'm exiled from. Then a thought ran through his head, I must contact my cousins. He looked around the altar for a few bones, maybe some marrow dust. "Undying Mind?"_

_The Hydra stopped enchanting. "Yes?"_

_"I need some bones."_

_"Why don't you use one of your fingers?"_

_Crota sighed, "What I'm about to do requires a tomb husk, which is a condensed form of bones, marrow, and flesh. With it, I could make a call to my cousins."_

_The Mind laughed, "Why? To tell them you're safe?"_

_"Yes." Crota's tone was deathly serious._

_The Hydra looked at the Hive Prince in the same manner. "Crota, if you contact your relatives, even for a second, Xylar will home in on us, and we'll be caught again, and then executed."_

_Crota looked down for a while and wandered about the altar. With his back facing the Mind, he said, "Do you really want to fight me?" Before the Undying Mind could answer, Crota quickly turned 180 degrees, and launched a beam of Darkness from his open fist, pummeling the Hydra to the ground, breaking its brass armor and splitting the spine into its head and 3 rings. The liquid that was split was white and fleshy. Perfect. Using his sorcery, he lifted the Radiolaria off the ground and attached it to the blade of his sword._

_He planted it into the ground, and called out, "ALAK-ZUL!"_

_A fuzzy image of a giant black, triangular horn with an angular jaw materialized above the sword. The Warpriest asked, "Crota? Do you know that it's dangerous to phone home right now?"_

_Crota hesitated, "Yes, but I need your help."_

_Alak-Zul looked worried, "Do you know what would happen if I did? My mother and uncle will lock me up and dissolve me into chitin, just like what they are doing to my brother right now."_

_Crota knew of Alak-Hul's fate. Ever since he took up the mantle of Darkblade, Alak-Hul has been slaughtering masses of Hive in the name of his girlfriend, Verok, and his mother, Xivu Arath. The Hive Prince said to the Warpriest, "And what about Balwur?"_

_"She is tithed to your father's court, leading her younger siblings and the most loyal servants that bow to us. I don't know why there is a Court, other than for the practice of Sword-Logic."_

_"Do you doubt Oryx?"_

_Alak-Zul looked away, thinking about his answer, and phrasing it in a way that didn't offend anyone. "No, he has his ways, and I am one of his many swords on the battlefield. But, there is something weird about Oryx that I don't understand," that he whispered, "I think he's being eaten from the inside out by a worm."_

_Crota looked puzzled. "A worm?" He chuckled, "You've got to be kidding me."_

_Alak-Zul's expression was serious, "I'm not. I think that's why we have the caste system, and why we go to war almost every day. I think that we kill for the sake of living and keeping our strength, because of the worms inside our parents that force us to go to war."_

_Crota shook his head, "I don't believe you."_

_Alak-Zul continued, "But, the weird part is Oryx's Final Shape. I think that the Final Shape will not be a need for war, but rather a wanting for it. When we are no longer tithed to the Worm Gods, only then will we learn true strength." Crota didn't change his expression. The Warpriest added, "What I fear is that we will find a planet where they have already reached the Final Shape, and we'll be lead to extinction."_

_Crota dropped his jaw, "WHAT!?" His anger screamed, "YOU MEAN TO SAY THAT WE, THE STRONGEST WARRIORS OF THIS UNIVERSE, THE BLADES THAT CREASE ITS VERY NATURE, ARE GOING TO DIE?"_

_From Alak-Zul's end, a voice said, "Warpriest? Who are you talking to?" The Warpriest turned back to Crota, "Got to go. Oryx needs me." The line went dead._

_Crota felt a rumble and looked to find the head of the Undying Mind floating on its own. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?"_

_The Mind laughed, "You really think that I could help you escape?" The three rings floated to three different points, all with the same radius from the center. "Maybe my minions will help you understand." The rings grew into three different Gate Lords: one from the past, one representing the present, and one visualizing the future._

_Crota stretched his open fists, and with a gesture, froze the Gate Lords in stone. "Sorry, but you'll need them in the future." He turned, and shattered the Mind's head into atoms, liquefying it into a pulsing Black Heart. He added, "Besides, nobody makes a fool of the Son of Oryx, and remains in their present state." He shouted into the deep, "BLACK GARDEN, HEAR MY CRY. YOU ARE BOUND TO A DISTANT PLANET, A PLANET THAT HOUSES A WEAPON TO RENDER TIME ASUNDER. YOUR CURSE IS THUS, LET YOUR CHILDREN REMAIN HERE, AND BE THE PRISON OF THE UNDYING MIND. NO ONE BUT YOUR DESCENDANTS ARE TO LEAVE THIS PLACE." The Garden rumbled, acknowledging Crota. The white-alloy Vex can't leave, but their dome-headed descendants will. When they do, all Hell will break loose. Crota lifted his sword out of the ground, looked at its blade that was encased in Radiolaria, and said, "Your name is Doombringer, your purpose is to cut down all that is not Hive." The Sword glowed green with amusement. Crota swung the Sword again, tearing another hole in the space-time continuum, and jumped through it._

* * *

Max's mind felt opened for the first time, "So that's how I saw my visions! It was because of you!"

The heart pulsed contentedly, "Correct!"

Lilli realized, "So maybe you can tell us how to cure Leviathan!?"

The heart laughed, "Why would I? He's a servant of Crota now, just like the Dark Hunter before him."

Max gasped, _Oh shit! We need to get back to the City!_ He turned to face the door, only to find it locked again.

"Oh, did I intrigue you? Well unfortunately, I can't afford for you to escape!" The heart pulsed and sent white radiolaria into the praying Goblin husks, activating and sending them at the Guardians. The Hive Acolytes picked up their own weapons and began firing at Max and Lilli. The Hunter took the Warlock's rifle and began pelting mossy Vex Goblins and Acolytes from the Spawn of Crota. Max tossed Vortex Grenade after Grenade at his enemies, trapping them into the Hunter's rifle sight. More Goblins and Acolytes spawned, wave after wave, replacing their fallen brethren. Max turned another Grenade a few times in his hand, thinking about a new strategy. He tossed the Grenade at the huge mass of shooting Acolytes, expecting another vortex, but instead watched as the grenade split itself into 3 small Void balls that followed the Vex and Hive wherever they were.

As soon as the chamber was clear, the dark heart stretched its tendrils out to the center, animating the first statue into the Primeval Mind, the Gate Lord of the Past. Max and Lilli dodged all of its shots, then returned fire to its huge radiolarian case, causing the Mind to explode. The heart growled, then spread its tendrils to the other two statues, animating the Imminent Mind on the right, and the Echelon Mind on the left. Lilli pounded the Present Gate Lord with bullets from her hand cannon, trying to puncture the armor and expose the radiolaria. The Echelon Mind felt every bullet almost immediately, then retaliated in response. Max tried throwing Grenades at the Future Gate Lord, but it dodged every single one before he had a chance to throw them. He tried bullets, but even those couldn't work. Lilli tossed one of her grenades at the Echelon, then shot at it midair, exploding in the Gate Lord's face, damaging the head and exposing the radiolarian case. Lilli jumped up, beyond the Present Gate Lord's reach and height, then fired into the chassis from the broken head, destroying the Echelon Mind. Max was still having trouble with the Imminent Mind and its accuracy in predicting his moves. _Do all Vex do this? Do they infer our next actions? If so, how do I beat this Gate Lord!?_

Then it hit him, as if a Titan crashed on top of him with a Fist of Havoc, _It's perfect! Better yet, it's unpredictable!_ He motioned for Lilli to come to him and asked, "How many grenades do you have?"

The Hunter ruffled through her pouch, "Uh...10."

"I need you to pelt this giant with your grenades, and I'll do the same with mine."

Lilli gulped, "How quickly? These bombs won't stick to anything!"

"Very, we need a chain reaction!"

Lilli stood to the left of the Imminent Mind, Max stood to the right, and both began pelting the Gate Lord with their Grenades. Lilli tossed 8 grenades at once, then drew a different hand cannon, a golden one with black details and a wooden handle and a leather wrapped grip, the memento of her first mentor, Jaren Ward. She fired the gun from the hip, trigger held down, the hammer pin striking the magazine 8 times with the help of Lilli's hand, the bullets striking the grenades in rapid succession. Combined with the Warlock's Vortex Grenades, the Imminent Mind fell.

The dark heart howled, "MUST I DO EVERYTHING MYSELF!?" It descended and transformed itself into a giant Hydra with 3 rotating shields and a mossy metal skin. This Hydra didn't hesitate to fire at the Guardians with its dual Torch Hammers, even as they split up.

Max cried out, "This dark heart is nuts! Where's a Titan when you need them!?"

Lilli shrugged, "I don't know, but now I regret wasting my grenades!"

 _Grenades!_ Max thought, _I can alter my own Void Grenades!_ He generated a few vortexes in his hands, then crushed them with forked fingers, and tossed them at the Hydra. The Grenades splintered into multiple mini-grenades, each exploding and generating smaller grenades within a growing radius. The Hydra growled and howled, "YOW! Goblins! Assist your Undying Mind right now!"

The chamber was then flooded with Vex Goblins, Lilli quickly went to work rapidly firing through the Goblins with her memento, Max did the same with his scout rifle. The Undying Mind fired at Max, the Warlock fell to the ground in pain, crippled from the blast. "AUGH!" The Warlock screamed.

Lilli gasped, then ran to Max's aid, firing cover fire bullets at the Hydra and grabbing him by the waist and dragging him to permanent cover. By sheer luck, one of the memento bullets struck the Hydra's eye, blinding it. "Are you alright?" Lilli asked.

"I just got my legs blown off!"

"Sorry!" she quickly said, "I just wanted to know if you can still fight."

The Undying Mind growled again, "I'm blind! Goblins! Kill them!" Nothing happened. "GOBLINS!!" Nothing. The Chamber of the Black Garden only had 3 occupants: Max, Lilli, and the Undying Mind. "Fine!" The Undying Mind shouted, "I'll do it myself!" The raised platforms sank, Max fell to the ground with nothing to support him. Lilli screamed, "MAX!" but it was too late. The Undying Mind fired at Max, killing him. "NOOOOO!!!" The Hydra shot at Lilli too, but she was too quick. Anger fueled her veins, fire pumped her heart, and she fired from her memento again at the Hydra, only this time, the bullets contained fiery payloads, melting through the Hydra's Torch Hammers.

The Hydra howled, "How!? How are you possible!?"

The Hunter raised her gun again, "I'm Shin Malphur, the Girl with the Golden Gun, and you killed my friend!" She fired 8 more times at the Hydra's eye, melting it completely as it screamed in agony.

Then there was silence. Total silence.

Max's Ghost floated up to Shin, "You're Shin!? THE Shin!?"

"Yes," she rolled her eyes, "Now bring him back!"

Max's Ghost fired a beam at the ground, materializing the Warlock before the Hunter's eyes. Max gasped, "Oh my Traveler! That was-! That was-!!"

Shin quickly wrapped her arms around Max, "You're alive! Thank goodness!"

The Warlock was having trouble breathing from Shin's loving squeeze, "...um...Ok, Lilli! Can I breathe now?"

Shin let go of Max, "Sorry, I just can't stand losing another one of my friends." Then she added, "And there's something you need to know..."

* * *

_Crota landed back in Xylar's domain and immediately opened up a hole in the ground. Out of the black void came two wizards, named Omnigul and Yut. Both were outfitted with traditional Hive robes, both held powerful Agonarch Runes. "What are your orders, Lord?" they asked._

_The Hive Prince answered, "Toss those Runes into each of the halls. We'll deal with them later." As they moved about, Crota swung his sword, cracking a different surface with every swing, and Omnigul would proceed to place a Rune in every cracked wall._

_Sooner than expected, the Goblins appeared, this time with Torch Hammers in both hands. In fact, every Vex, from the Harpies to the Hydras, was equipped with Torch Hammers. They were told only one thing: shoot on sight. When Crota encountered a few Vex, he and Omnigul would launch an endless volley of Darkness Bolts, shredding the robots into atoms. The three kept marching, moving from room to room, dismantling Vex, breaking surfaces, and placing runes._

_When the thousandth rune was placed, the metal started to corrode, spreading like wildfire across the realm. "The Runes have done their job. They can proceed without relying on any more runes!" exclaimed Omnigul._

_Crota grinned evilly. "Now, to find Xylar." After a couple of turns, they entered Xylar's Throne Room and stood before the Vex Overlord himself. "Stand aside Xylar, and your life will be spared," offered the Son of Oryx._

_"Or what?" Xylar challenged, "You couldn't even kill me before. I am more complicated than you can possibly imagine. I can fight another day in a different body, whereas you are confined to one soul for all eternity."_

_Yut stood by herself, preparing a death-song of her own creation. Omnigul, on the other hand, hovered to Crota's side. "What a laugh!" she roared, "I've never heard such pompous lies. Crota took down the Kell of Rain, challenged the fractured Cabal Empire and won, and he's even betrayed and defeated your precious Undying Mind."_

_Xylar was stunned for a moment. "Impossible," he said, coming out of his daze, "I would've known."_

_Crota laughed, "You think you're so powerful on that throne of yours." The Overlord began to sink. He knew what would happen next, there was no alternative in the time stream. "Let's see how powerful you are when your world is reduced to ash!" Yut began to scream her Liturgy of Ruin, every word ignited a small green flame in the corroded brass. The four Hydras charged, prepared to kill Crota, but were cut down by Omnigul's spells, and shattered by the Liturgy. Xylar charged at the Hive Prince, only for him to be trapped by Omnigul's poisonous sphere. Yut continued, with every note violently thrashing into the walls of the realm as the song became louder._   
_Crota lifted the trapped Xylar with his magic. He gloated, "I am not dull, but sharpened with lethality. I don't get carried away; I am focused. I do understand my purpose: an eternal war waged on the Traveler. But you did get one thing right..." Xylar widened his eye in fear. Crota shouted, "I AM EXPLOSIVE!" At that moment, Crota sliced through Xylar as if he was butter, and the last note of the Liturgy echoed through the void of the realm, brutally breaking the realm into various sized pieces. All that remained, apart from the chunks of corroded brass and the three invaders, was the solar core that used to power the Vex Homeworld, below their feet. Crota took one look at the core. Yes, He thought, This core shall be my Oversoul. He cast a spell, and moved the core to his eye level, then took the Vex Radiolaria, and fed it to the core. The once orange sun became a sickly and poisonous green, the same shade as Crota. The Hive Prince then took the bits of Vex and surrounded the new Oversoul, making it look like a cracked eye. The remaining bits were first corroded into a sick, jaded green, then attached to their selves, creating the armor that would distinguish them as the Spawn of Crota. The chunks of corroded brass and Radiolaria would form Crota's castle, his entrance into the universe. The sky changed from pitch black to poisonous sea-green. Crota gently landed at his own altar, on his two feet. Before, he thought that he would never make it home to his father. Before, all of his killings were done in the names of Oryx, Xivu Arath, and Savathun. Now, he himself has conquered the Vex Overlord and its realm. Now, the Hive Prince has become a deity alongside Omnigul and Yut. He looked at Yut and said, "Step forward, Yut." She floated to the Son of Oryx and bowed reverently. Crota continued, "By the power vested in me, I dub you the Deathsinger of Ruin. Rise Ir Yut, and claim your new title." She straightened her back, bowed once more, and floated away._

_Omnigul stepped forward. "What about me?"_

_"You, my dear Omnigul, shall be my Will. Now, we will spawn an army, and we shall exterminate all that isn't Hive."_

_Omnigul nodded, and using their sorcery, they created 7 other lieutenants: the Fist and the Hand, the Eyes, the Heart, the Might, and the Sword. Simultaneously, the lesser Hive began to spawn, crawling out of the ground as marrow dust, but slowly taking their corporeal forms. Crota looked upon his new army._ _Now, to invade the Moon, and to take the Earth. Father, I have ascended!_

Crota woke from his meditation and stared at a Vex Goblin in disbelief. From within his Throne World, Vex could come and go as they please, so long they have something relevant. "Speak, Goblin!" The Hive Prince demanded.

"My lord," addressed the Goblin, "the Black Garden has fallen. I, the Undying Mind, am the only one remaining."

"How did it fall under your jurisdiction!?" Crota demanded again, "These things don't just happen! And in the name of my father, don't say it was the meddlesome Warlock!"

"It wasn't, my lord."

Crota breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh good."

The Undying Mind gulped, "It was his friend, the living Hunter."

Crota howled and swung his Sword into the Goblin, slicing it in half, just as he did with Xylar. "DREDGEN BANE!"

Leviathan's image appeared before Crota's right hand, "Yes, my lord?"

"Bring me the Warlock and his friend! I have a few questions for them!"


	16. Under Control

After Asher found the machine he was looking for, he left Jess and Kaden to deal with the Psion Flayers. For the most part, it was an easy fight, before another Guardian arrived.

The Guardian was lightning fast, taking out Kaden's knees first, then wedged a crystal into his circuitry. Jess fought back for a while, before being stabbed in the back by another crystal. Within seconds, they were down and under the mysterious Guardian's control.

* * *

As Max's Ghost piloted the Jumpship back to the City, the Warlock sat in the back across from the Hunter. "So your real name is Shin Malphur?"

Shin nodded in response.

"Why hide the truth?"

She looked down, "I can't say."

"Something about Palamon?" Max wondered, "Or is it something else?"

"Both," Shin said glumly.

"Ok, I'm here if you need to talk."

Shin scooted herself next to Max and looked into his eyes, "After my family left Palamon, it was attacked. The Mayor tried to maintain order by closing off the gates permanently, but that didn't stop the Dark Hunter from barging in. Most of the citizens were killed by that Hunter's gun, a wretched weapon that the dying call Thorn," she dug the Dredgen's hand cannon from her bag and said, "This gun."

Max gasped.

"A few days while I was on the road with my mother and sister, he found us. We ran as fast as we could, hid as well as we could, away from the Hunter. And that was our life before the City, mostly running and hiding."

Max sighed, "I'm sorry."

"When we arrived, Jaren Ward was the first person to give us a proper welcome, and a place to stay. He even taught me how to defend myself, how to be a good hunter. Because of him, I was admitted into the Guardian school, and now we're here."

The Ghost shouted over the ship's engines, "That doesn't explain the golden gun or your ability to channel Solar Light through it!"

Shin continued, "One day, during my classes, an announcement was made over the intercom; Jaren Ward was killed in battle, his Light drained and his Ghost destroyed. I cried in the bathroom afterwards. Later in the day, Cayde gave me Jaren's gun, saying if anyone should have it, it'd better be his protege." She felt the golden memento in her hands, navigating through the golden embossing that said "Tex Mechanica" and "Jaren's Last Word", then said, "Not a day goes by when I think about him, or anyone else I lost," then she turned to Max, "or nearly lost."

"And the Solar Light you wielded?" inquired the Ghost.

Shin shrugged, "I don't know."

Max straightened himself and smiled, "Shin, you're the most powerful person I've ever known, and I'm glad to have you as a friend."

Shin smiled back, "Thanks, Max."

The Ghost guided the ship into the Tower Hangar, then touched down and doused the engines. Max and Lilli walked out of the ship and into the hangar, breathing in the familiar air of the City. "Ah," they said unanimously, "Home sweet home."

Cayde was standing off to the side when he said, "Psst! Over here!"

Shin turned around and found the Hunter Vanguard standing in the shadows, out of sight. "Cayde! What's new?"

"Shh!" he whispered, "Come over here and I'll explain." As soon as Max and Shin were with arm's distance from Cayde, he said, "Listen, Zavala is looking all over for you and Leviathan. Things are bad enough as they are, Lilli."

"It's Shin now," she corrected, "And why is Zavala looking for Leviathan? What did he do?"

"He murdered one of the doctors in the hospital, ripped her spine out of her body. Ugh!" Cayde, Max, and Shin shared disgusted looks. "Also, Zavala wants to see you two in the Vanguard room immediately. I want to protect both of you, but Zavala has the rest of the Corps wrapped around his finger, so good luck."

Shin and Max sighed dejectedly before they reported to the Vanguard. Ikora bowed and greeted them, "Welcome back, Max and Lilli."

"Yes, yes," Zavala added, "Welcome back, Private Qu'lene. Although, I doubt that you'll be working with the Guardians anymore."

Shin exclaimed, "I beg your pardon, Commander!"

"You disobeyed my orders to keep you safe, alive, and well for your ailing mother; yet you went with this Ghoul beyond the safety of the City and the Earth!"

"I was in Max's company for the whole time I was away! Doesn't the law say that a Recruit like me should be paired with a Ghoul, such as him?"

"Lilliana-"

"No! What's more than just floating around a Ghoul is that I helped him take down a Vex Gate Lord and vanquish the Black Garden!"

Ikora stared at Shin Malphur in amazement.

"And another thing!" Shin shouted for the last time, "You've done nothing to protect the City from whatever dangers came to our doors! When the House of Wolves invaded, you wanted to close off more of the City, leaving the slums to die!"

"Lilli!" he warned.

"The Hive invaded Earth and have an operative here, but instead of joining your brethren on the front lines to defend us, you sat here on your lazy bum, doing nothing but drawing up invasion plans to exterminate the Fallen!"

"Lilli!!"

"And one more thing: I killed the Black Garden! I destroyed its heart and its connection to Crota! I did all of this for YOU! Yet all you want to do is restrict and restrain me!" As she spoke she marched closer and closer to a scared Zavala, "I am not made of glass! I am made of steel and the sun! I am the one they fear as Shin Malphur!" Then she calmed down, "So I refuse to be anything less than a Guardian."

Max nodded, "What she said."

Zavala gritted his teeth and pounded the table, "Fine, Shin. I hereby promote you to Captain of Fireteam Omega. Now get out of my sight!"

Shin saluted, "Sir," and walked away with Max.

As Shin and Max entered the Plaza again, they heard a familiar voice say, "Hello friends." The tone was menacing and caused the pair of Guardians to turn around. From the shadow of one of the vaults, a pair of poisonous green eyes glowed in the sockets of an all too familiar Titan.

Shin gritted her teeth, "Leviathan. What do you want?"

Leviathan laughed, "What makes you say that? Don't you trust me?"

"Given the fact that you have eye colors similar to Crota's, and that The Black Garden confirmed your connection with him, I wouldn't be surprised if you wanted to destroy the world."

Leviathan laughed harder, "Me? Destroy the world? HA! No no no! Crota doesn't want to destroy it, not entirely. And even if I wanted to, I don't possess the means. Not even Crota could do that!"

Shin breathed a sigh of relief, "Well, then we have nothing to worry about. Come on, Max. Let's grab a beer."

Leviathan pointed to Max and said, "You do."

Max looked at Leviathan confused, "Excuse me?"

The Dredgen Bane laughed again, "You don't remember, do you? I suppose not. You were resurrected with no memory of your past, and when you were reminded, your Ghost would take the memories away. The Traveler, this City is corrupting you, Max. But through Crota, I can restore you."

"And if I don't want to?"

Leviathan raised his right arm 90 degrees, hand open in a gripping manner. Thorn vibrated inside Shin's bag, trying to escape. The gun slipped out, Shin tried to grab it first from the barrel, but it slipped past her palms, cutting them open, and she screamed. The Dredgen Bane grabbed Thorn midair and pointed it at Max's skull, the barrel burned to life with a sickly green flame. "Let me rephrase, I _WILL_ restore you!"

Max understood as he gulped, "Ok."

Shin drew her Last Word, "I won't let you take him!"

"No you're mistaken, my dear Shin," the Corrupted Titan grinned, "I'm taking you all to the Vault of Glass!"

Max looked shocked, "All of us? Not both of us?"

Leviathan motioned for three more Guardians to come forward, Jessica, Cassandra, and Kaden-2, all under the spell of Crota's crystals. "All of you," he affirmed.

* * *

_Xylar looked at himself, inside of a Precursor Goblin, standing in an unknown place. Where am I? Why am I here? The skies were normal, but held a faint touch of acid in its blue hues. The mountains looked like they had taken a beating over the years, and yet they still stood. Among the landscape stood many buildings of inferior designs. The Goblin realized where he was: Venus. Too long have these humans wasted away on 'preserving the land'. What this planet needs is a rebirth! Xylar raised his arms, and shouted in his own tongue, "To the metal that resides inside this planet, rise up! Build a Vault to render Time asunder, a Citadel to house my kin, and two Hezen armies to protect these sites and carry out my will!"_

_Underneath, the metal groaned as it rose, filling a large cavity in the caves, creating the two sites to satisfy Xylar. The Hezen armies later appeared in front of the Vex Overlord, as he explained his plans to invade Mercury. Now, let's see if we can put humanity back into the ground._

Atheon stood in the ethereal dimensions of the Vault of Glass. It felt the past within its claws and saw the future unfold before its eyes, a future replicated in the form of the past. It saw this and ordered the Vault, "Protect our timeline from the Light and the Dark." And the Vault obeyed.


	17. Well of Secrets

Max, Shin, Jess, Kaden, Cass, and Leviathan landed on Venus, just in front of the Waking Ruins. "Welcome to the Vault of Glass, ladies and gentlemen," Leviathan said defiantly.

"Great," Max said quickly, "We've seen it. Let's go!"

Leviathan quickly whipped out Thorn and shot it in the air. The sound it made was a quick **VANG.** Max and Shin ducked. "Nobody is leaving until I say so!" the Titan shouted, "Now, open the Vault!"

"How!?" Shin asked.

"You know how. We've been here to strike back against the Wolves, you opened the Black Garden and destroyed it."

"That proves nothing! The Wolves opened the Vault on their own!"

"But, the Garden was of Vex origins; Crota merely perfected it. The Vault was created without him, but holds similar mechanisms. So open it."

Max looked at the Ruins and the circular door on top of it. _It's very similar. Almost congruent._ He stared at his scarred hand, the 'X' shaped wound refused to heal, even after his revival. He walked up a long semicircular staircase, stretching from the left side and reaching the door in the middle, before ending on the right side, never to touch the ground again. As soon as Max reached the door, he pressed his wounded hand on the cold metal, a few feet below the center, and the door shot a beam of light from the center to a solid glass sphere inside a metal cube on the ground in the center of the 'U'. The cube enlarged itself to the height of the Guardians, then floated up to face the door, shedding its cubical shell bit by bit, until only the sphere remained. The ruins hummed to life, and 3 large metal rings formed on the left and right sides of the 'U', as well as right in front of the door.

Leviathan grinned, "Alright! Jess and Shin, go to the right side. Cass and Kaden will guard the left side, and I'll keep an eye on Max in the middle."

As they kept the Vex away from the rings, Shin asked her sister, "Why are you doing this?"

Jess's only answer was, "Crota is our path to true salvation."

"But why!?"

"Crota is our path to true salvation."

Shin tried walking away, scared of what her sister had become, but Jess shot at Shin's foot mindlessly. "OUCH!" Shin shouted, "What was that for!?"

Jess motioned her to move back to the ring and said, "You will see when Crota saves you."

Max was busy shooting at Goblins while asking, "Leviathan, why do you do this?"

The Titan simply said, "Because you refuse Him. Crota showed me a better path. He saved me."

"Saved you!? How!?"

Leviathan chuckled, "You'll see soon enough."

The sphere hummed when a stone and metal pillar began to surround it, then it shot a beam of blue light into the door, opening the Vault of Glass. Leviathan called the team together and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the Vault of Glass. Your future awaits!" And he ran down with Kaden. Jess and Cass brought up the rear, dragging Max and Shin with them. Max whispered to Shin, "I've got a bad feeling about this."

A few minutes later, the team navigated a few floating platforms and approached a giant platform known as the Templar's Well below them. The Well was loosely divided into three lanes, connected by three different horizontal paths in the front, middle, and back, making the platform look like a square window with 4 pillars standing in the middle to separate the paths, and 3 additional rectangular spokes in the back, the left and right sides leading to nothing, while the middle spoke was locked in a tunnel behind another circular door.

A voice resonated throughout the Well, "Ah, Maxwell Prodigy, the Warlock from the Prophecy. Have you come to reclaim your memories?"

"What memories?" asked his Ghost, "His only memory is serving the City."

"Then you know nothing of his dark past, little light."

The Ghost sounded annoyed, "Don't call me that!"

"How can I have a dark past," Max asked, "when I am a Guardian of the Light?"

A metal Vex conflux materialized in the front of Well and the voice said, "Step into my Well and find out."

Shin shook her head, "No, no, no! This is too dangerous! Max, tell him!"

Before the Warlock could say a word or raise a finger, Leviathan said, "Shut your mouth, bitch!"

Max was too frozen in fear to respond. He was afraid of what will happen if he leaves, and afraid of what his past contains. _The b_ _ad choice or the worse one?_ He tried to turn around, but Leviathan pointed Thorn at him, the message was crystal clear. Max gulped and turned to face the Well again. Then he jumped out towards the Well below, and glided towards the Conflux.

The Well hummed the usual Vex beep and whine. The scenery changed around Max, from a dark vacuum in the venusian rocks into a brightly lit Terran environment. Max saw streets flowing through a suburban neighborhood, houses of similar builds and different colors. A school bus would drive through the neighborhood, picking up kids of a similar age group as it went in the morning, then dropping them off in the afternoon. The smell of freshly mowed grass flooded the air, sometimes mixed with the putrid scent of gasoline or chemical fertilizer. Max took one whiff, one glance and said one word: "Home."

Leviathan grinned, "Now we watch as history unfolds itself."

"But Max needs help," Shin cried.

"No," Leviathan said firmly, "He needs to experience his whole past, without any help."

"And what about the Vex encroaching on him!?"

Leviathan looked at the Templar's Well again, unsurprised at the approaching Goblins and Hobgoblins. He waved a hand with 2 raised fingers and said, "Minions, begin sniping."

Jess, Kaden, and Cass took up positions on the left, right, and middle sides respectively, then sniped each and every bipedal Vex frame.

Max never heard the gunshots as he explored the vision of suburbia. He found a house that was like the others, except the grass was yellow and its exterior colors dull. "Was this my house?" he asked. As he touched the front door, the house and the other houses crumbled into ash, the neighborhood slowly lost its color, and the streets became cracked and barren. Max asked in shock, "What happened!?"

A thin, mutated corpse began to rise from the ashes of the dull house. It pointed at Max and said in a hoarse voice, "You did, Maxwell."

The scene vanished. Max was back in the Templar's Well, standing in the left lane. The Conflux disappeared, another one appeared on the left side, and Max ran to it. Shin called out, "STOP, MAX! STOP!!" But it was too late, Max approached the Conflux and the scenery changed yet again.

This time he was in a city, different from the Last City in its structure and buildings, and the noticeable absence of the Traveler. It was the evening, and he was inside something made of wood and bricks. The place was well-lit with lamps, decorated with colorful stained glass bottles and windows, and in the center was a table with a hollow center and a person with a shirt that said 'Guinness' tending to the table. He was handing out foamy drinks of gold, bronze, and black to the people sitting at this table. The scent was a little less putrid than gasoline, but was pleasant nonetheless; booze and grilling blended in expert fashion. "A bar?" asked Max, then he remembered, "No, the Prancing Pony!"

Immediately, 5 other people greeted the Warlock, "Hey Max! Good to see you!" 3 guys and 2 girls, one of whom gave Max a small kiss on the cheek. The five sat down and began to look at their menus. Max looked at his for a moment while the others talked, mentioning how this bar was named after the bed and breakfast from Lord of the Rings. Max glanced at his menu, only to be surprised when it said, "YOU ARE A DEAD THING!" He looked up again, only to find 5 corpses staring at him with blank eyes, one of them had a scar running down from forehead to jaw. He screamed as they repeated the menu's words, "YOU ARE A DEAD THING! YOU ARE A DEAD THING! YOU ARE A DEAD THING!"

Max was so scared that he tripped out of the vision and back into the Well. Another Conflux appeared, this time on the right. When Max approached it, the scene changed dramatically into a ruined city, filled with corpses of the citizens that used to walk the streets. "What happened here!?" Max asked.

"You happened," said the voice in the Well, "You ruined the world, killed 7 billion people, and nearly destroyed humanity."

"Why would I do such a thing!?"

The scene disappeared, reverting back to the Templar's Well. "Why don't you listen to my Oracles?"

7 glowing yellow cubes lit up around the Well, one at a time. As they lit up, a single musical note was played, echoing throughout the Well.

Leviathan grinned, "This is the moment we've been waiting for, my lord!"

Shin panicked and plucked the crystal from her sister. Jess's eyes turned back to their natural blue and she too panicked. Shin covered her mouth and whispered, "Shh! Jess, it's me. I don't have a lot of time, so listen up: You were kidnapped by Leviathan to work for him, and now we're in the Vault of Glass again. I need you to shoot the Oracles."

With minimal options left, Jess simply nodded, then went back to sniping. Shin talked to Max on a private channel, "Max, you need to wake up."

Max looked around, confused as to where the voice was coming from, "Huh? Who's there!?"

"It's me, Shin! The Oracles have got you under a spell, and in order to break the spell, you need to shoot and destroy them!"

Max didn't completely understand, but he understood the words 'shoot and destroy'. "What am I shooting?"

"The glowing yellow cubes!"

Max instantly saw one of these cubes and shot it down. Slowly, the scene shifted away from his past and back to the present. As it shifted, he began to feel more and more grounded to reality, realizing that his past is distracting him from his survival. He shot at more Oracles, dispelling the illusions of the past.

Leviathan's grin slowly turned into a frown, then he screamed, "No no no no NOOOOO!!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

Max panted when the Oracles finally stopped spawning, "I needed to survive. Those Oracles were clouding my vision."

The Dredgen Bane descended into the Well and smacked Max so hard he knocked him down, "They weren't clouding your vision, they were opening it up! Your destiny is written in history, and it's your fate to repeat it!"

Max coughed and tried getting to his feet but was quickly beaten down again. "Ok ok," he wheezed, "just let me catch my breath."

Suddenly, a giant Hydra appeared behind them, its curved spokes on the head and horizontals of the spine were a display of power. Not only was this Vex the master of the Well, but it was also one of the few gatekeepers to the inner sanctum. The Templar growled and whirred, "You killed my precious Oracles!" and it fired at Max and Leviathan.

They took cover behind a pillar, and Leviathan shouted, "Don't shoot at the Hydra! We need it for Max's memories!"

Shin and Jess heard differently and began firing at the Templar, only to find their bullets were being erased inches from the Templar's frame. Their eyes bulged, "What!? A circular shield!?"

Max stared at the Hydra closely, _I can't see it, but the bullets..._ He looked around for something different, something to fight the Templar with. Then he found it, a diamond shield with 4 metal rods on each of the corners. When Max grabbed it, the shield emitted a crystal purple aura that extended the diamond to the ends of the rods.

The Templar gasped in fear, "Kabr's Aegis! Supplicants! Stop them!"

Max was quick enough to use the Aegis against the red Harpies that spawned in. The snipers up top were too busy shooting at the Supplicants to hear Leviathan yelling, "Stop!"

Max aimed the Aegis at the Hydra, the aura dropped into the shield, condensing itself into a bright and fast Void bolt, destroying the Templar's own shields. The Templar screamed, the Guardians were trapped inside white spheres that inhibited their movement. Jess shot everyone free from these cells, then proceeded to snipe at the giant Hydra. Max saw a white circle pop up on the right side and ran for it. _The Templar! He could teleport soon!_ He stood inside the circle and it turned red. The Templar screamed and fired at Max. The Warlock planted the Aegis and began absorbing the Templar's attacks. Shin and the snipers continued firing at the Hydra. Leviathan tried to say, "NOOO!!!" But it was too late.

The Templar screamed as its eye cracked, its spine began to break, and its weapons exploded. Max fired one more blast from the Aegis, this time with the equivalent of everything the Templar threw at Max, and the Hydra exploded. The Well fell silent, and the Aegis disappeared.

Leviathan came out from his hiding place and shouted, "WHAT THE TRAVELER WAS THAT!?"

Max said, "We were only defending ourselves."

"DO YOU WANT TO KNOW YOUR HISTORY!? DO YOU WANT TO KNOW YOUR FATE!?"

Max shrugged and said, "To be honest, I am a little curious now."

"Then we have no other choice but to go deeper!"

Shin gulped, "Deeper?"

"The only way out is through the inner sanctum!"


	18. Vault of Truth

Leviathan led the team down the middle spoke of the Templar's Well, leading into a network of caves known as The Gorgons' Labyrinth. Vex Gorgons were similar to their Harpy frames, except they could erase your existence with just a stare. As they carefully walked through the Labyrinth, Shin pulled Max to the side and asked, "Why are you doing this? Why are you curious?"

Max answered, "Because I want to see why the Vex think of me as dark."

"But you aren't!" Shin protested, "You fight the Darkness! You fought with me in the Chamber of Night and the Black Garden. Even right now, we're fighting side by side in the Vault of Glass. You are bright, Max. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Cass approached them in Leviathan's daze and asked, "What are you doing? We should be moving!"

Jess surprised Cass by removing and crushing the crystal from her back. Cass's eyes reversed from green to brown, and she took a quick look at her surroundings. Jess filled her in, "We're in the Vault of Glass, don't be alarmed, we need to play the part of Leviathan's minions until we can get Kaden released.

Cass nodded, "Ok, let's go!" Her words were demanding, almost similar to what she said under the spell, enough to convince the Dredgen Bane that she was still under.

As they left the Labyrinth and approached the inner sanctum of the Vault, Leviathan warned Max, "If you screw up again, you're dead and mine to command."

Max gulped, then followed him down a spiral of floating stone platforms appearing and disappearing in and out of their timeline. Kaden was last, watching the three ladies in the Fireteam in front of him. As soon as they reached the bottom, a door opened in front of them, leading into a metal hallway, ended by another door which led to the inner sanctum, the real Vault of Glass. Opening the final door, the team looked inside to find that the entire room was made of glass, from the bridges and the platforms to the decor and the two Vex Gates on the left and right sides facing the entrance.

As Max entered, he heard a different voice say, "Welcome, Max Prodigy, son of Felix Prodigy. I see that you want to reclaim your past."

"What do you know of me?"

"Your history, your life, and your fate. It is my job to see and record all things in the Universe's Time."

"Then what do you know of the Black Garden? Why did Crota take control of it?"

An image flashed in the glass below them, "Crota was banished by his father, stripped of his immortality from Oryx's Court, and locked away in our Gate System. He sought the help of the Undying Mind, and in so doing, they created the Black Garden and Crota's own Throne World."

"Praise be to Crota!" said the Dredgen Bane.

"And me?" Max asked, "What does Crota want to do with me?"

The gate on the right was powered on, "Step in, and I'll show you," said the voice.

Shin grabbed Max's arm, "No! It's too dangerous!"

Leviathan pushed both of them towards the gate, "Get in there, you cowards!"

Shin and Max were shoved into the past, looking at the ruined city once again, except this time it was lively and crowded. "Where are we?" she asked.

"The past," the voice explained, "The former capital of a nation known as the United States. Max was an American once, almost 2000 years ago. He believed in freedom and liberty, was a model citizen and a poster boy. But then, he snapped."

The scene was invaded by a giant mushroom cloud. Max's eyes bulged, _I did that!?_ Then a memory came back to him, "No, I didn't snap. I was forced."

The scene fell away, revealing a Hydra guarding the Aegis on the far side of a stone platform covered in sand. Shin shot down the Hydra and grabbed the Aegis. The scenery changed yet again, revealing the capital as a war zone. Max took one look at it and said, "No, it wasn't like this. The day was dreary, and we weren't in a war zone."

"It might as well be," warned the voice.

"No, there wasn't anything else to this. It was an assassination mission!"

The voice sounded shocked, "Oh! I'm sorry!" The scene was corrected to match Max's description. Shin stared in confusion, _Assassination mission!?_

They left the vision through the Vex gate, and they did, glass Vex began to spawn around the sanctum, firing glass shards at the intruding Guardians. As they ducked for cover, a glass Conflux formed in the center of the sanctum, attracting the glass Vex to it like a magnet. In the ensuing chaos, Jess pulled Kaden's crystal out of his back, returning him to reality. She also filled him in and said in addition, "After this, we arrest Leviathan." Kaden nodded, then proceeded to the Conflux to destroy some Vex, followed by Leviathan.

Shin and Max stepped into the second gate, revealing a scene of a barren earth, decorated only by the ruins of metal buildings that once stood tall. "Once, this was the largest city in the world, the economic center of the globe. The pride and joy of humanity, laid low by one angry person. Guess who it is."

"No!" Max exclaimed, "This place wasn't the joy of humanity, nor was it prideful!"

The scene disappeared, revealing a metal room covered in jungle vines, with another Aegis in the center. Max grabbed it and rushed out with Shin, moving to guard the Conflux. As soon as all six Guardians had cleared the Vex out of the glass room, the lights dimmed, the shields disappeared again, and a small glass ball and a giant glass throne appeared in the opposite direction of the door. The ball grew larger and larger until it shattered and reformed itself into a giant glass Minotaur. Atheon has arrived.

Atheon fired at the Guardians with its own glass Torch Hammers. Max, Shin, and Leviathan ducked behind the right gate, while Jess, Cass, and Kaden hid behind the left gate. All of a sudden, Atheon stopped firing and raised a hand in the air, transporting Max, Shin, and Kaden into the desert room. Max called out, "Right side." Leviathan stood on the gate's adjacent glass ring on the ground, activating the gate. More Supplicants appeared, the three Guardians outside the gate shot down each and every red Harpy that came and fired at them.

Inside the gate, Max, Shin, and Kaden saw a scene change into the assassination mission, as soon as Max grabbed the Aegis. 6 red Oracles appeared high above the ground, charging the scene. Max saw himself and the 5 other people from the bar sneak into the U.S. capital city, armed with snipers, pistols, and assault rifles, all equipped with silencers. Each time an Oracle was shot down, the scene changed to a different frame, the second of which was the 6 assassins standing before a wide rectangular building with a semicircular back. Max mumbled, "The White House!"

The third image was the younger Max taking aim from a vacant building with his girlfriend and another dude in the back. Max saw the fourth image with shock on his face, the other three assassins were storming the interior of the White House, silently killing uniformed men with pistols and knives, followed by the fifth image, a fat person with skin that teetered between typical White and Russian Dressing Orange, stood before the three people, as if he were about to knight them. Max saw his younger self brought in with handcuffs on his wrists, by none other than his other two teammates. "The traitors!"

The last image saw him escaping from a prison with 8 other prisoners, wardens' dead corpses and other prisoners running free littered the background. Max said to himself, _I led the rebellion._

Max, Shin, and Kaden came out of the gate with the Aegis in hand. "Go to the middle!" Max commanded. Everyone did as he said, albeit with doubt. Max fired a void blast at one of the Minotaur's arms, shattering it, then planted the Aegis into the center platform, generating a large shield around the team. More Harpies gathered around the platform, firing at the team, but to no avail. As the Guardians fired everything at Atheon, the Minotaur said, "Do you see your 'hero' now? Do you see his inner darkness?" No one paid attention to its words, except for Shin and Kaden, who stared at each other, then at Max in disbelief.

Atheon blasted at the Aegis, shattering it in Max's hands. The Warlock panted, _Oh crap!_ He ducked behind another portal, before being transported into another room with Jess and Cass. Max grabbed the Aegis again, called out, "Left side!" then watched the scene change again.

This time, Max and the prisoners were established in a fortress of their own design, grinning over a tactical map of the whole North and South America, flooded with red 'X's across the map. In another corner, more prisoners were cackling over another map, Europe, Africa, Oceania, and Asia covered with red marks. Another image depicted Max and a team of ex-prisoners raiding a nuclear bunker, tampering with the equipment and killing everyone in a camo uniform. The third image was a palace on fire, Max rushing inside to raid the place, only to be met by a man with a scar running from the forehead to the jaw, cutting through his left eye. The fourth image saw Max killing the scarred man and leaving him in the flames. The younger Max left the building with a suitcase in hand.

Jess and Cass looked at each other with concern as the image changed to Max punching in some sort of code into the opened suitcase/laptop. When they shot the last Oracle, it transformed into a mushroom cloud, and the scenery changed back to the jungle room.

Max gritted his teeth and led Jess and Cass out of the gate and onto the center plate. He fired another blast to shatter Atheon's other arm, then joined the others in shooting the glass Minotaur down. Atheon wailed as it fell, its legs crumbled, its chassis fragmented, leaving behind a yellow gun mysteriously made for human hands. Max stepped to the gun and picked it up, unaware that it was alive.

The Vault of Glass began to crack and break apart, all except for the center. Max jumped back to the platform and generated the Aegis's field again. Everyone ducked as the glass shattered and penetrated the field. The tiny glass shards that remained inside the Aegis started attaching themselves to the Guardians' armor and weapons, turning their materials from traditional metal and fabrics into bronze chrome plates and glass phase-weave fabrics, with strategically placed orange lights that looked like eyes.

The only thing left of Atheon was its head, projecting a hologram of a blue and green Earth over the team, the Vex's most damning piece of evidence against the Warlock. "Order," said the dying Atheon, "Earth and Humanity had order before Max came along. Everyone was just fine on their own, with authority to guide them. There was peace and prosperity, until Max snapped his fingers." The blue oceans faded and the green plains dulled as mushroom clouds and brilliant explosions dominated the sphere. When the explosions cleared, the entire Earth was barren; tones of crimson replaced the green, and where the oceans once were, there were only tan and orange valleys.

Everyone but Leviathan stared at Max in shock. They had forgotten about arresting the Dredgen Bane, and instead thought about Max's history from the Before. "Yes, it is true," the Warlock said in shame, "I am the Worldbreaker."


	19. Throne of Pain

Max Prodigy glumly looked down at the ship's floor. His history was presented to his team as plain and simple as it could be: he alone caused the First Collapse, he alone brought Humanity to its knees, he alone nearly destroyed the world. _Why?_ he asked himself, _What could possibly cause me to snap against my kin?_ He looked across the cargo bay at his team, except for Leviathan piloting the Jumpship back to the Moon. Jess looked confused, she couldn't bring her wide eyes to meet Max's. Cass was grumpy, here was a Warlock who broke the law so much that it destroyed the world. But his friend, Shin Malphur, had the worst expression on her face. She was sad, and who wouldn't be when it's revealed that their closest friend also has the potential to be their worst enemy.

The only one who didn't look sad, mad, confused, or zealous was Kaden-2. If anything, he looks at Max as if he were only human. He signed to the Warlock, "Do you want to talk?"

Max shook his head.

"Ok. I'll be here if you need anything."

Max said, "ok," unsure if he meant it or not.

Leviathan said, "We're here, Beginning our descent."

Max moved to the passenger seat and looked out the window, _Wait! We're diving into the Hellmouth!?_

The Dredgen Bane grinned, "You and I, Max, we can save the world!"

"We have different concepts of 'saving the world,'" Max warned, "You might want to tell Crota that before you drag me to him."

Leviathan laughed, "Causing the First Collapse? You two are more alike than you know!"

Max scoffed and returned to his original seat as the sunlight pouring into the cargo bay shrunk in intensity and volume. Cass looked away from Max in disgust, Jess heaved as she went to the passenger seat, and Kaden signed to Shin, "Ask him about his past."

"Why?" she whispered, "The Vault showed us the truth!"

"The Vex only know the 'What', they only show the 'what' to divide us. You need to ask him, 'Why did you do it?'"

Before she could even ask Max, Leviathan spoke into the comms, "Open the doors, Ir Yut. I have the Worldbreaker." A thin vertical slit of poisonous green light appeared before the ship. The slit had small, dark, horizontal lines at random points, and as the slit grew into a large rectangle, the small dark lines were later revealed to be forks in the doors, keeping them shut in case of intruders. Leviathan pushed the flight stick forward, thrusting the ship into the light. As they pushed further away from the doors, the light began to pour in from the windows, blinding everyone except for Leviathan.

Then the intensity shrunk back to normal, revealing an almost empty world except for a green star armored by rock, and a floating green castle made of bone and a metal composite known as Hadium below the star. Inside some of the walls and pillars of the castle, Vex radiolaria flowed without a problem. The castle had 9 different large rings surrounding the central cylinder, each ring's height was lower than its neighboring inner ring, and every so often on the exterior of the rings was a symbol of an outstretched wheat crop surrounded by a green circle. Acolytes, Thrall, Knights, Wizards and Ogres would bow to this symbol when they had a chance.

And in the center of the cylinder of the castle stood the Altar and Throne of the Hive Prince, Crota. The Altar was divided into two floors and an indoor and outdoor section, the floors were connected by two staircases and the sections were connected by a ringed bridge representing the second floor. In the middle of the bridge, opposite the inside section was a large upside-down arch projecting a large image of Crota to oversee his Throne World.

Max's first impression of Crota's Throne World was fear, shock, and terror. "Oh my God!"

Leviathan parked the Jumpship on one of the long platforms leading into the cylinder and shouted, "Everybody out!"

Shin and Max were the first to enter the Altar, followed by Kaden, Jess, and Cass, with Leviathan pointing Thorn at their heads. "Keep moving!" Dredgen Bane said, "It's time to meet your savior!"

Shin defied, "Crota is no savior! He is a reaper!"

Leviathan fired Thorn in the air, this time with a louder **VANG** , "Do you want to say that again, bitch!?"

The Hunter and her sister gulped. Max and Kaden shivered. Cass was too angry to bother.

Crota announced, "Step forward, Dredgen Bane." Leviathan came to the first floor of the outdoor Altar, leading the other five Guardians into it. As Leviathan walked, Acolytes and Knights bowed. Max passed them, scared for his life, but they didn't raise a finger. It wasn't until Shin came by that they growled. Cass looked at them and growled back, finally scaring the Hive. The Hive Prince looked at Max through his image, "Ah, Max the Worldbreaker! Welcome to my humble abode!"

Max looked at the Image of Crota, "And you must be the Hive Prince, Crota?"

The Prince grinned, "You know of me! I'm pleased!"

"Don't be!" The Warlock snapped, "I see what you did to the Moon, to the Guardians, and what you will do to humanity!"

"Do you?" Crota inquired, "You say that I harm the universe, but I am merely a blade to reap enemies and a guiding principle to save my followers."

"Prove it!"

Max was trapped and lifted up to the Image's eyes by a green energy orb. "Close your eyes, Max," said the Prince, "Close your eyes, and see the universe in its entirety." Max tried to fight the urge, but the mesmerizing sound and visual of the orb and Crota's three eyes took effect, and he drifted into a sleep state.

As soon as he fell asleep, Crota ordered, "Ir Yut! Begin your Deathsong!"

Ir Yut cackled, "With pleasure, my lord!"

Shin, Jess, Kaden, and Cass stared at Crota, "But we're your guests!"

"No!" The Hive Prince bellowed, "Max is my guest and next disciple. You are non-believers, and therefore you deserve to die!"

Leviathan shrugged, "Sorry guys, but that's the rule."

_Max found himself in an ethereal room, surrounded by a ring of green flames. In front of him stood the Hive Prince himself, in all his transparent green glory. "Look, Max," he said, "Your Earth is dying, your kin are barely surviving. And you saw them at their peak: fat, greedy, lazy, exploiting each other left and right. Humanity is a poison to the Universe. But you said 'enough is enough.' You decided to stop the poison before it spread."_

_"And what about you?" Max inquired, "What makes you any similar to me?"_

_"I'm glad you asked," and he brought up images of multiple planets, "These are all planets who faced the same problems humanity faced: overpopulation, corruption, and sloth. My father solved all of that by offering a simple choice: Praise Him as their new god, or be exterminated."_

_"And the planets?"_

_One by one, the images of the planets exploded, sometimes blasting small people into the vacuum of space. "The Universe needs whittling."_

Shin Malphur gritted her teeth at Leviathan and whipped her Last Word out, drawing on 8 Acolytes in a row, killing them with headshots. Jess and Cass marched up the right staircase and killed the Hive in the right side of the room. "We found Ir Yut!" they said over the comms, "She's inside!"

Shin immediately said, "Kill her!"

Cass fired, but the invisible energy field surrounding the middle room dissolved the bullet upon impact. Cass's mouth dropped, "Force field!"

Shin groaned, "Ok, try to take it down from your side, Kaden and I will try to take it down on the left."

Leviathan stood confidently, "You won't make it."

Shin gritted her teeth and said, "Doesn't mean I can't try!" She ran up the steps with Kaden and cleared the left side of the room. As soon as she did, two armored purple orbs appeared on either side. Jess destroyed one and Shin destroyed the other. The force field fell, but it was too late: Green flames surrounded Ir Yut as she had begun to sing.

The Deathsinger's raspy voice cut into everyone's ears, forcing them to fall. Shin growled, "Stop her!" Kaden forced himself to stand up, using a nearby pillar for support. He tried reloading his sniper, but the scratchy voice was forcing him to take his time and not lose any bullets. Eventually he readied his sniper and aimed for Ir Yut's head.

Even aiming was difficult for him, the scope shaking, the barrel always moving. He moved his recessive hand further down the barrel to stabilize it. Even then, it was a mess. He looked down the scope. Ir Yut screamed louder and louder. Kaden aimed through the shaking scope, then fired. He flinched at the last second and didn't get to see the aftermath, but he heard it loud and clear.

Ir Yut wailed as the bullet passed through her head, the green flames surrounding her now engulfed her until she was nothing more than ash. Crota cried out, "IR YUT!!!"

_Max stared at Crota for a while before taking a step back, "You want to cut the universe down until there's only you and your father!?"_

_"And my followers," added the Hive Prince._

_Max shook his head, "No! You can't!"_

_"Why not? The Hive and the Undying Vex have accepted me as lord and savior. You wrecked the world until there was nothing left but your image-"_

_"No!"_

_"-so why are you resisting?"_

_Max shouted, "Because these people have lives! They can serve and lead whomever they want! You want to take that away and replace it with slavery to you!" Max closed his eyes again, forcing himself out of the dream state._

When Max opened his eyes again, he was still floating above the ground inside the green orb. Crota howled and pushed Max into the center room, slamming his back against the soul gem Ir Yut was singing to. Crota also forced the other four Guardians into the same Soul Gem, then raised Leviathan into a green orb of his own. The Dredgen Bane exclaimed, "Wait, what are you doing master?"

"I need a body," Crota explained, "O Vessel Mine."

"Then take Max! He's not obedient! He needs-"

Crota payed no attention to his disciple as he said, "His body is not sufficient! I need something stronger!"

Leviathan felt himself getting pulled apart piece by piece, "Master! Please stop!" But the Prince wouldn't obey. Leviathan felt his brain getting ripped apart and he screamed his last. His armor and metal frame was pulled out to make room for the large Hive Prince, and as the green star poured itself into Leviathan's expanded body, it took the form of a giant green Hive Knight with a regal crown of upward facing spikes. Crota raised the acidic auto rifle that Leviathan was carrying and crushed it, transforming it into his Sword. "Now, Warlock," Crota bellowed, "Your soul will be mine, and I will reign destruction down on the entire Earth!"

Max and his team were abruptly dropped to the floor. "Ok," said the Warlock, "We need to stop Crota!"

"Oh and why should we listen to you, Worldbreaker!?" Cass accused.

"Because he's going to destroy the Earth!" Max rebutted.

"Then why do you want to stop him!? Don't you want to wreck the world again!? Hmm!?!?"

"Look!" Max declared, "I know what I did in the before is wrong! Hell! It's unforgivable! But from what I've seen it's changed from being corrupt and enslaving to actually helping people! That's the world I want to save and see at the end of the day!" He calmed down, "We are the only things standing between Crota and Earth. I'm more than willing to work with you guys to make sure humanity is never reaped again. My question to you is, 'Are you willing to work with me?'"

Silence broke out. Jess stepped forward, "Do you really want to save the world? The City is still corrupt with selfish politicians." She almost sounded like the devil's advocate, but she wanted to know which side her friend was on.

Max replied, "Trust me, Jess. They weren't as corrupt as the politicians I've met."

Shin asked, "But are you corrupt, or a Guardian of humanity?"

"I'd like to believe so, but I can't do it without any of you."

Shin nodded, "Then let's save the world!"

Jess agreed. Kaden bowed with respect. Cass was still unsure about Max, but she heaved and said, "Ok, I'm in."

Max smiled, "Awesome! Now let's go kill a Hive Prince, Fireteam!"

The 5 Guardians stepped outside and began shooting at Crota, only to find that their bullets were smashed on impact, dealing nothing to the Prince. "It's not working!" Jess shouted, "We need something more effective!"

Just then, a fiery Hive Knight appeared on the bottom floor, with a Hadium sword instead of a bone sword. Max said, "He who lives and thrives by the sword, dies by the sword."

"Huh?" Everyone else was confused.

"Crota's power lies in the Sword, cutting everything down until only you remain! If he instead was cut down in the same way..."

Jess realized, "He can die!"

Max jumped down and began attacking the fiery Knight, taking his sword and cutting off his head. The Hadium glowed purple and orange with Max's Void energy and the Knight's soul intertwined.

The Warlock lifted himself up to the bridge, ready to duel Crota. The Prince charged and slammed his Sword down, but The Warlock was faster. Max swung his sword through Crota's legs, taking out bits of Leviathan and dissolving them outside of Crota's body. The Hive Prince howled in anger and blasted darkness bolts at Max in rage. The Warlock kept chopping Exo pieces out of Crota as he worked up the legs and to the abdomen. Crota reached behind him, grabbed the Warlock, and sliced him in half.

Shin screamed, "NOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

The green sun expanded and Crota said, "Now, it's time!"

_Max was once again in the ethereal realm, without his void powers. Crota stood over him, a giant compared to Max's small frame. "What else did you expect, Warlock?" Crota asked, "Did you really think you could take me? I'm immortal!"_

_Max coughed and shook his head, "No, you're not!"_

_"I killed the Worldbreaker and stole his soul! I live_ _in_ _my disciple's body forever! I am Crota, Son of Oryx, and soon to be, Savior of the Earth!"_

_"No!" Max shouted at the top of his lungs, "You're no savior! You're just a thief of faith, of souls! You do nothing but reap!"_

_Crota crouched to his level, "And what about you, dead thing?"_

_Max paused, he had no answer...not yet._

_"You are a dead thing, made by a dead power in the shape of the dead! The mark on your hand proves that all you'll ever do is kill! Your destiny is already written, Worldbreaker! You were meant to be sacrificed to me!"_

_Max gripped his fists and gritted his teeth, "I! AM! NOT! DEAD!" The realm began to rumble, Max began to grow in size. "I WAS MADE TO SERVE THE LIGHT!" All around Crota, the realm began to fall apart, piece by piece. Max was now up to Crota's height and shouted, "I AM THE WARLOCK! AND IF I CHOOSE TO BREAK A WORLD, I WILL BREAK YOURS!" He punched Crota in the face..._

...and the Hive Prince fell back, dropping his Sword. "Impossible!" he cried.

Max's upper half was now engulfed in orange flames, regrowing his lost limbs as he floated in the air. He opened his eyes, white-hot flames filled the sockets.

Crota, who never felt fear in a long time, was now scared to his bones. He tried reaching for his Sword, but Max quickly stretched out his right hand, pulling the Sword into his grasp using some unknown magic, then leaped into the air and thrust it down into Crota's head. He screamed out, "ORYX!" before he died. Max took the Sword out of Crota's cranium and threw it into the green sun, causing it to explode.

The explosion killed all of the Hive in the Throne World, whereas outside on the Earth and Moon, the Spawn of Crota turned into dust.

Max's flames retracted into his body, and then he fainted. The castle began to crumble. Shin rushed over to him, saying to the rest of the team, "Rev up the Jumpship! We need to get out of here!"

She and Kaden carried Max into the ship, and the Fireteam sped away from the crumbling castle. Jess in the pilot's seat asked, "Where's the exit portal!?"

Kaden pointed to a white oval, Jess looked at where his finger was pointing and sped into it.

Back in the Hellmouth, Jess flew the ship out of the Moon's pit, just in time to see the green flames shoot out of the Hellmouth from a safe distance. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Shin said, "We need to get back to the City and explain what happened."

* * *

A Hive Acolyte stood before the Altar of Oryx, frozen by what he was about to say. Oryx, God of the Hive, demanded in the tongue of the Hive, "Speak, Acolyte!"

"My God," he mumbled.

"Louder!"

"My God," the Acolyte spoke, failing to keep himself from shivering, "I have good news and bad news."

"Let's hear it then!"

The Acolyte stuttered, "W-w-well, the good news is that Crota has deceived and killed one of the Seven Seraphs..."

Oryx grinned, "That is good news! Maybe it's time to welcome him home."

"...b-b-but...it cost him..." the Acolyte froze again, "it cost him his life."

Oryx stood in rage, "HOW DARE YOU SPEAK SUCH LIES!!"

"It's not a lie!" the Acolyte said quickly, "He cried out through the Ascendant realm! Didn't you hear it!?"

Oryx then heard His son cry out His name, then the Sword hitting Crota's head, followed by the explosion of his Throne, and the deafening silence thereafter. He fell to His knees, crying in sorrow. _He made his own Throne, and was permanently killed in it. He proved himself worthy of the Sword, but he was killed just as quickly._

The Hive God picked himself up, raised His right hand to summon His own Sword, Ecthar the Willreaper, and announced, "GATHER TO MY ALTAR, FOLLOWERS!"

Hours later, 1000 Hive Thralls, Acolytes (including the one who walked in), Knights, and Wizards stood in a line for the Altar. They entered in batches of 20 to 50, every single one of them asked themselves and each other, "What are we doing here?" Not even the next batch knew what Oryx was doing behind closed doors, until they entered themselves.

Oryx summoned a ball of pure Darkness in His right hand, while holding His Sword in his left. The Darkness began to shoot out of the ball and into the Hive's eyes, tearing each of them from the inside out. Everyone but Oryx screamed. The Hive were now Taken by the Darkness and remolded into darker and more powerful versions of themselves, but all of them enslaved to Oryx's will. "Tend to the Dreadnought!" He barked, "We're going to Earth!" The Taken obeyed and transported themselves back onto their assignments on the Dreadnought.

Oryx said to Himself, _My Hive and My target is not enough for me to Take. No, I will Take everyone in Sol!_


	20. Epilogue: Sins of the Warlock

Shin and her team rushed Max to the hospital. Dr. Harko-7 rushed him in for blood tests, X-rays, MRI's, and ending in the Emergency Room. The four Guardians stood by Max as he was rushed between the points. Even his own Ghost and Gabriella stood by his side, examining him. "Nothing we can do," they told each other. Dr. Harko and the nurses kept 24/7 tabs on the new Hivesbane, keeping everyone, including Ghosts out of Max's ER. For the next few days, they performed multiple operations on Max, trying to get a solid diagnosis on his condition.

Nothing came up. No breakthroughs, no light at the end of the tunnel, nothing.

Then late at night, Dr. Harko had an idea. He took the blood samples and the results from the blood tests and said, "That's why!" Next morning, he explained to the Guardians, "I never cracked open a Ghoul before, but I understand their anatomy now thanks to Max!"

"So spill it!" Cass barked.

Harko said, "Ghouls have tar blood; their organs are dead, all except for the skin, muscles, and brain. That's why Max's bomb wounds healed fast enough, but not to his original shape."

Shin looked grossed out, "So they're intelligent zombies that heal super fast?"

Harko nodded.

"And the 'X' on his hand? How is that bleeding and not healing!?"

"While Max is connected to the Light, any wound that isn't dark or connected to his past heals within the snap of your fingers. However, wounds that are will rarely heal on their own."

"So what's wrong with him!?" Cass demanded.

"Everything!" Dr. Harko explained, "His mind is undergoing a struggle between Light and Darkness, he's bleeding through his stitches on his hand and belly, and I don't know where to find extra Guardian blood and Light!"

Max's Ghost piped up, "Take me, it's my job to protect him."

Harko warned, "But you could lose your life!"

"What's a Ghost without their proper Guardian?"

Gabriella said, "Um..."

"No," corrected Max's Ghost, "Leviathan is not a proper Guardian, he was toxic."

She nodded.

"Ok," said the doctor, "Come with me to the OR."

"OR?" asked the Ghost.

"Operating Room."

4 hours later, Dr. Harko and 6 nurses were performing multiple operations on Max, recovering his blood, stuffing the Ghost's Motes of Light into the wounds and organs, then piecing him back together. Within minutes, Max was breathing again.

At 1:13 PM, Dr. Harko came out of the OR dramatically and said, "He's finally recovering!"

Shin smiled for the first time in days, "Can we see him?"

"As soon as we get him back to his room."

30 minutes later, Max was comfortably back in his ER with his team by his side. As he woke and opened his eyes, he asked to his right, "Shin? Is that you?"

Shin cried tears of joy, "Yes it is! We're all here, Max!"

The Warlock looked around and found Cass at the foot of the bed, Jess beside her, and Kaden standing to his left. He smiled weakly, "Hey, guys. Did I miss much?"

Shin and Jess chuckled, "Nah."

Cass butted in, "I hate to break the party, but..."

"No!" Shin yelled, "You can't take him to the law! He needs to explain why he did what he did!"

Max nodded, "Yeah. I think it's time you learned the truth, the good things and the bad, the how and why, everything."

* * *

There were 6 of us, operatives on this difficult mission. A dictator named John Saxon had taken over the United States, imprisoning immigrants and political opponents, upscaling the army to start attacking neighboring countries and neighborhoods, and integrating church into politics and education, taking over everything with extreme religion. All of us decided to kill him before he got too powerful, and so the assassination mission began.

Two of my teammates and I were the snipers, while the other three hacked the White House security and stormed the castle for potential heirs. Everything was going well, I found Saxon's head and pulled the trigger, he fell, the three stormed the heirs, the mission was a success. Until it wasn't...

I was knocked out cold by the butt of a sniper, and when I woke up, I found the 3 heir-killers rewarded like war heroes, by none other than Saxon himself! The dictator somehow survived my bullet! My other 2 teammates were restraining me before Saxon. He said to me, "You think you could kill me? I am invincible! I have become the right-hand of God!"

As soon as he left, I fought my ex-team, killing 4 and scaring one. Erik Larsen growled as he almost gutted me, but I was quicker, running away as fast as I could. But their law caught up with me and locked me in a maximum security prison built on a ship, made specifically for political opponents and weed smokers.

For a while, I thought it was the end of the road. A few fellow prisoners convinced me otherwise, so much so that we led a revolution against the tyrannical guards, transforming the prison into a base. 8 ex-prisoners and I became known as the Children of Liberty, and the rest of the ex-prisoners became freedom fighters. We vowed to end Saxon's dictatorship over America, and restore peace to the world.

For 10 years, we fought the good fight in 3rd world countries, keeping them out of the claws of the Fascist States of America, but Saxon had conquered larger fish, namely the American continents and most of Europe and Asia. The Children of Liberty agreed that in order to end Saxon's rule, we needed to devastate his territory. We deployed the freedom fighters all over the globe to steal control of every nuke, or save every single person who still believes in democracy and a separation of church and state and placing them in hidden bunkers. I made the final step by deploying myself to Russia, initiating the final launch of the nukes.

Erik suddenly surprised me at the console, and fought to keep the world under Saxon's iron fist. I made a few punches to his stomach and balls, Erik fired his pistol twice, but I launched the nukes and wrecked the console. He stabbed me and shouted, "You think this will stop God's work!? You're only delaying the inevitable!"

I coughed, "God..was created...by man. He...will also...be destroyed...by man."

The last thing I saw was the mushroom clouds only a few meters away.

* * *

"I wrecked the world, yes," Max explained, "but I also gave it a second chance: the freedom fighters taught humanity about the evils of discrimination and Fascism, how governments will always lead to dictatorships, and the only way for humanity to survive and thrive is to live without an oppressive government or regressive society." He sighed, "I have committed sins, yes. But I did so with the hope of restoring peace to the Earth and to humanity."

Cass stared at Max in shock, not knowing what to say, then abruptly left. As she walked away, she turned those thoughts inside her mind. Shin turned to Max and patted his shoulder, "It's ok. What's done is done, and you saved the world from one of the greatest threats of that time. Don't ever doubt yourself."

* * *

A fully armored soldier with green fists emblazoned on his shoulders and gauntlets approached a bald man with a swastika tattoo on the back of his head. "Lord Lysander, I have some bad news to report."

"Speak, soldier."

"Your nemesis, Max Prodigy has reclaimed his memories from the Vex, and he's killed a Hive Prince and crippled the Moon."

Lysander turned to face his soldier, a scar running down his face and through his eye dominated the soldier's attention. Erik "Lysander" Larsen barked, "Then it's time to awaken our asset, SIVA."

**TO BE CONTINUED IN "DESTINY: PLAGUES OF DARKNESS"**


End file.
